o  vmm  VINVS  a 


O    THE  UBRARV  Of    e 
I 


.  O    ADSWAINA  9Hi 


O    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 

8 

r» 
> 


0    Of  CALIFORNIA    o 


«  SANTA  BARBARA 


jo  wjvaan  SHI  * 


O    Of  CALIFORNIA    o 


«  THE  UNIVERSITY 


O    THE  LIBRARY  Of 


__ 

SANTA  BARBARA  » 


«    VW8OJI1O  JO 


O    THE  UNtVERSlTY    o 


O    OF  CAL^ORNIA     9 


c    THE  imRARY  Of 


SANTA  8ARBARA  « 


•  VNKU10  JO 


C    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 
3 

i 

«  SANTA  BARBARA 


e   THE  UBRARY  OF    o 


OF  CAUf ORNIA    e 


O    A1IS«AIND  3H1 


VBV9MV9  V1NVS 


O    THE  lIBRARr  OF 


o    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 


O    OF  CALIFORNIA    o 


«    VIN8OJ11V3  JO 


»  SANTA  BARBARA  «. 


• 


o    OF  CALIFORNIA    o 


UtSaSAtND  3H1   « 


0    THE  UNIVERSITY    9 


O   THE  UBRARV  Of    o 


*  -      TUC    tlOft&DV    nt     *. 


o    THE  UBRARY  OF   c 


o    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 
O 

i 

o  SANTA  BARBARA 


jo  Juvaan  SHI 


o    Of  CAIIFORNIA    o 


c    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 


o    THE  UBRARY  OF    o 


o  jo  Aavaan  SHI 


O  5ANTA  BARBARA 


O    OF  CAIIFORNIA    o 


o    THE  UBRARY  OF 


I 


0     VINilOJIlVD  JO 


0   THE  UBRARY  Of   o 


o  V«V88V8  VtNVS 


«    VINgQJIlO  iO 


o    OF  CAIIFORNIA    o 
< 


40  Awaan  3Hi  « 


e   THE  LIBRARY  OF   o 


O    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 


O    VINSCHJIVD  iO 


0  SANTA  BARBARA  ° 


o    OF  CA 

I 


jo  Aavaan  3Hi  « 


O    OF  CAIIFORNIA    o 


o    THE  UNIVERSITY 


DRESS 

AS    A    FINE    ART 

WITH  SUGGESTIONS  ON  CHILDREN'S  DRESS. 
BY    MRS.  MERRIFIELD. 


WITH     AN     INTRODUCTION     ON 


BY    PROF.   FAIRHOLT. 


BOSTON : 
JOHN    P.   JEWETT   AND    COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO  : 
JEWETT,  PROCTOR,  AND  WORTHINGTON. 

1854. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853.  by  * 

JOHN  P.    JEWETT   &    CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


PRESS    OP    OEO.    C.    BAND, 
CORNHIU,    BOSTON. 


STEREOTYPED    AT    THE 
BOSTON      STEREOTYPE      FOUNDRY. 


PREFACE. 


THE  fact  that  we  derive  our  styles  of  dress  from  the 
same  source  as  the  English,  and  that  the  work  of  Mrs. 
Merrifield  has  been  circulated  among  the  forty  thousand 
subscribers  of  the  "  London  Art  Journal,"  might  perhaps  be 
deemed  sufficient  apology  for  offering  it  in  its  present  form 
to  the  American  public.  It  has  received  the  unqualified 
approbation  of  the  best  publications  in  this  country ;  — 
entire  chapters  having  been  copied  into  the  periodicals  of 
the  day ;  this  added  to  the  above,  and  also  to  the  high 
standing  of  the  author,  has  induced  the  publishers  to  offer 
it  to  the  great  reading  public  of  this  country. 

The  chapter  on  Head-dresses,  which  commences  the  book, 
is  of  much  interest  in  itself,  and  affords  an  explanation  of 
many  of  the  descriptions  in  the  body  of  the  work. 

The  closing  chapter,  on  Children's  Dress,  by  Mrs.   Mer- 


IV  PREFACE, 


rifield,  will  be  deemed  of  more  value  by  most  persons  than 
the  cost  of  the  entire  work. 

A  few  verbal  alterations  only  have  been  made  in  the 
original ;  —  the  good  sense  of  every  reader  will  enable  him 
to  understand  the  local  allusions,  and  where  they  belong 
to  England  alone,  to  make  the  application. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAGE 

DESCRIPTION    OF    HEAD-DRESSES 1 


CHAPTER    II. 
DRESS,    AS    A   FINE    ART, 10 

CHAPTER    III. 
THE    HEAD, 63 

CHAPTER    IV. 
THE    DRESS 61 

CHAPTER    V. 
THE    FEET 73 

CHAPTER    VI. 
REMARKS    ON    PARTICULAR    COSTUMES, 84 

CHAPTER    VII. 
ORNAMENT  —  ECONOMY,   .  ,      95 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

SOME  THOUGHTS   ON  CHILDREN'S  DRESS.  — BY  MRS.  MERRIFIELD,    121 

(v) 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATE    I. 

Figure  1.  Head-dress  of  Lady  Ardene. 

2.  A  kind  of  hat. 

3.  Steeple  head-dress. 

4,  6.  Head-dresses  of  Lady  Rolestone. 

5.  Heart-shaped  head-dresses. 

7,  8.  Head-dresses  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

9,  11.  Hats  of  the  time  of  George  II. 

10.  Nithsdale  hood. 

12.  Hat  of  the  time  of  William  III. 

13,  14.  Hats  of  the  time  of  Charles  I. 

.  15,  16,  17.  Head-dresses  of  1798. 

18.  Head-dress  of  1700. 

19.  Head-dress  of  the  time  of  Henry  VI 

20.  Combination  of  figs.  7,  8. 
21,  22.  Hats  for  ladies  in  1786. 

23.  Style  of  1785. 

24,  25,  26.  Style  of  1782. 


PLATE    II. 

Figure  27.     Style  of  1782. 

28,  30.     Head-dress  of  1790. 

(vii) 


viii 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Figure  29.  Head-dress  of  the  French  peasantry. 

31.  Fashion  of  1791. 

32,  33.  Fashion  of  1789. 

36.  Head-dress  of  the   commencement  of  the  present 

century. 

35.  English  housemaid. 

37.  Gigot  sleeves,  with  cloak  worn  over. 

38.  From  a  picture  in  the  Louvre. 


PLATE    III. 

Figure  39.  Dress,  with  short  waist  and  sleeves. 

41.  Dress  of  the  mother  of  Henry  IV. 
40.  Dress  of  Henrietta  Maria. 

42.  From  the  "  Illustrated  London  News." 


PLATE    IV. 

Figures  43,  44.     From  the  plates  of   Sommaering,  shows  the  waist 

of  the  Venus  of  antiquity. 
45,  46.     The  waist  of  a  modern  lady,  from  the  above. 

49.  From  the  "  London  News." 

50.  Woman  of  Mitylene. 

53.  Algerine  woman. 

54.  The  archon's  wife. 


PLATE    V. 

Figure  47.     Athenian  peasant. 

48.     Shepherdess  of  Arcadia. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


IX 


Figure  51.     Athenian  woman. 

52.     French  costume  of  the  tenth  century. 
62.     Lady  of  the  time  of  Henry  V. 


PLATE    VI. 


Figure  55. 
56. 
57. 
59. 
61. 


After  Parmegiano. 
Titian's  daughter. 
Lady   Harrington. 
Roman  peasant. 
Gigot  sleeves. 


PLATE    VII. 

Figure  63.  From  Bonnard's   Costumes. 

64.  Sancta  Victoria. 

65.  Anne,  Countess  of  Chesterfield,  from  Vandyck. 
67.  Woman  of  Markinitza. 


PLATE    VIII. 

Figure  60.     Lady  Lucy   Percy,  from  Vandyck. 

69,  70.     By  Jules  David,  in  "  Le  Mpniteur  de  la  Mode." 
68.     The  hoop,  after  Hogarth. 


PLATE    IX. 

Figure  66.  From  Rubens's  "Descent  from  the   Cross.' 

71.  From  a  drawing  by   Gainsborough. 

72.  Woman  of  Myconia. 
74.  Queen  Anne. 

b 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATE     X. 

Figure  73.  Charlotte  de  la  Tremouille. 

75.  After  Gainsborough. 

76.  After  Gainsborough. 

77.  Costume  of  Mrs.  Bloomer. 


PLATE    XI. 

Figure  78.  From  the  embroidery  on  fig.  47,  pi.  5. 

79.  From  the  sleeve  of  the  same  dress,  above. 

80.  From  the  sleeve  of  the  pelisse. 

81.  The   pattern    embroidered    from    the  waist  to    the 

skirt  of '  the  dress,  fig.  51,  pi.  5. 

82.  The  border  of  the  shawl,  fig.  51. 

83.  Sleeve  of  the  same,  figure  51. 

84.  Design  on  the  apron,  fig.  48,  pi.  5. 

85.  From  the  border  of  the  same  dress,  fig.  48. 

PLATE     XII. 

Figure  86.     Pattern  round   the  hem  of  the   long   under   dress, 

fig.  51,  pi.  5. 
87,  88.     Borders  of  shawls. 

89.     Infant's    dress,   exhibited    at    the    World's   Fair   in 

London. 

89,  90.  From  "  Le  Moniteur  de  la  Mode,"  by  Jules  David 
and  Reville,  published  at  Paris,  London,  New 
York,  and  St.  Petersburg. 


CHAPTER    I. 

DESCRIPTION   OF   HEAD-DRESSES. 

IG.  1  is  a  front  view  of  a  head-dress 
of  Lady  Arderne,  (who  died  about 
the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.) 
|1  The  caul  of  the  head-dress  is  richly 
embroidered,  the  veil  above  being 
supported  by  wires,  in  the  shape  of  a  heart,  with 
double  lappets  behind  the  head,  which  are  some- 
times transparent,  as  if  made  of  gauze. 

Such  gauze  veils,  or  rather  coverings  for  the 
head-dress,  are  frequently  seen  in  the  miniatures  of 
MSS.  Figs.  2,  3,  are  here  selected  from  the  royal 
MS.  In  Fig.  3,  the  steeple  head-dress  of  the  lady  is 
entirely  covered  by  a  thin  veil  of  gauze,  which  hangs 
from  its  summit,  and  projects  over  her  face.  Fig.  2 
has  a  sort  of  hat,  widening  from  its  base,  and  made 

of  cloth  of  gold,  richly  set  with  stones.     Such  jew- 
i  i 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE     HEAD-DRESSES. 


elled  head-dresses  are  represented  on  the  heads  of 
noble  ladies,  and  are  frequently  ornamented  in  the 
most  beautiful  manner,  with  stones  of  various 
tints. 

The  slab  to  the  memory  of  John  Rolestone,  Esq., 
sometime  Lord  of  Swarston,  and  Sicili,  his  wife,  in 
Swarkstone  Church,  Derbyshire,  who  died  in  1482, 
gives  the  head-dress  of  the  said  Sicili  as  represented 
in  Fig.  6.  It  is  a  simple  cap,  radiating  in  gores 
over  the  head,  having  a  knob  in  its  centre  and  a 
close  falling  veil  of  cloth  affixed  round  the  back. 
It  seems  to  have  been  constructed  as  much 
for  comfort  as  for  show :  the  same  remark  may 
be  applied  to  Fig.  4,  which  certainly  cannot  be 
recommended  for  its  beauty,  being  a  stunted  cone, 
with  a  back  veil  closely  fitting  about  the  neck,  and 
very  sparingly  ornamented ;  it  was  worn  by  Mary, 
wife  of  John  Eolestone,  who  died  in  1485.  These 
may  both  have  been  plain  country  ladies,  far  re- 
moved from  London,  and  little  troubled  with  its 
fashionable  freaks.  Fig.  5  represents  the  fashion- 
able head-dress  of  the  last  davs  of  the  house  of  York. 


DESCRIPTION     OF     THE     HEAD-DRESSES. 


It  has  been  termed  the  heart-shaped  head-dress, 
from  the  appearance  it  presents  when  viewed  in  front, 
which  resembles  that  of  a  heart,  and  sometimes  a 
crescent.  It  is  made  of  black  silk  or  velvet,  orna- 
mented with  gold  studs,  and  having  a  jewel  over  the 
forehead.  It  has  a  long  band  or  lappet,  such  as  the 
gentlemen  then  wore  affixed  to  their  hats.  Figs.  7 
and  8  represent  head-dresses  worn  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.  These  are  a  sort  of  cap,  which  seem  to 
combine  coverchief  and  hood.  Fig.  7  was  at  this 
time  the  extreme  of  fashion.  It  is  edged  with  lace, 
and  ornamented  with  jewelry,  and  has  altogether  a 
look  of  utter  unmeaningness  and  confusion  of  form. 
Fig.  8  has  a  hood  easier  of  comprehension,  but  no 
whit  better  in  point  of  elegance  than  her  predeces- 
sors ;  it  fits  the  head  closely,  having  pendent  jewels 
round  the  bottom  and  crossing  the  brow.  Figs.  9 
and  11  are  hats  of  a  very  simple  style,  such  as  were 
worn  during  the  reign  of  George  II.,  when  an  affected 
simplicity,  or  milk-maiden  look,  was  coveted  by  the 
ladies,  both  high  and  low.  The  hood  worn  by  Fig. 
10  was  a  complete  envelope  for  the  head,  and  was 


DESCRIPTION     OF     THE     HEAD-DRESSES. 


used  in  riding,  or  travelling,  as  well  as  in  walking  in 
the  parks.  These  were  called  Mthsdales,  because 
Lady  Mthsdale  covered  her  husband's  face  with  one 
of  them,  after  dressing  him  in  her  clothes,  and  thus 
disguised  he  escaped  from  the  Tower.  Fig.  12  rep- 
resents a  hat  worn  during  the  reign  of  William  III. 
by  a  damsel  who  was  crying,  "  Fair  cherries,  at  six- 
pence a  pound !  "  It  is  of  straw,  with  a  ribbon  tied 
around  it  in  a  simple  and  tasteful  manner ;  the  hat 
is  altogether  a  light  and  graceful  affair,  and  its  want 
of  obtrusiveness  is  perhaps  its  chief  recommenda- 
tion. Figs.  13  and  14  are  hats  such  as  were  worn 
by  citizens  and  their  wives  during  the  reigns  of 
James  and  Charles  I.  Figs.  15,  16,  17,  were  such 
head-dresses  as  were  in  vogue  in  1798.  Fig.  15  was 
of  a  deep  orange  color,  with  bands  of  dark  chocolate 
brown ;  a  bunch  of  scarlet  tufts  came  over  the  fore- 
head, and  it  was  held  on  the  head  by  a  kerchief  of 
white  muslin  tied  beneath  the  chin.  Fig.  16  is  a 
straw  bonnet,  the  crown  decorated  with  red  perpen- 
dicular stripes,  the  front  over  the  face  plain,  and  a 
row  of  laurel  leaves  surrounds  the  head;  a  laven- 


DESCRIPTION     OF     THE     HEAD-DRESSES. 


der-colored  tie  secures  it  under  the  chin.  Bonnets 
somewhat  similar  to  those  now  worn  were  fashion- 
able two  years  previous  to  this ;  yet  a  small,  low- 
crowned  hat,  like  the  one  in  Fig.  17,  was  as  much 
patronized  as  any  head-dress  had  ever  been. 

Cocked  hats,  such  as  is  represented  in  Fig.  18, 
were  worn  by  the  gentlemen  in  the  last  part  of  the 
year  1700.  Fig.  19  represents  one  of  the  head- 
dresses worn  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  It  is  a 
combination  of  coverchief  and  turban.  Fig.  20  is  a 
combination  of  the  head-dress  of  Fig.  7  with  the 
lappeted  hood  of  Fig.  8.  In  1786,  a  very  large- 
brimmed  hat  became  fashionable  with  the  ladies, 
and  continued  in  vogue  for  the  next  two  years ;  an 
idea  of  the  back  view  of  it  is  given  in  Fig.  21,  and 
a  front  view  in  Fig.  22.  It  was  decorated  with 
triple  feathers,  and  a  broad  band  of  ribbon  was  tied 
in  a  bow  behind,  and  allowed  to  stream  down  the 
back.  The  elegance  of  turn  which  the  brim  of  such 
a  hat  afforded  was  completely  overdone  by  the 
enormity  of  its  proportion  ;  and  the  shelter  it  gave 
the  face  can  now  be  considered  as  the  only  recom- 


6          DESCRIPTION     OF     THE     HEAD-DRESSES 


mendation  of  this  fashion.  The  hat  worn  by  Fig. 
23  was  the  style  of  1785.  Feathers  were  then  much 
in  favor,  and  a  poet  of  the  time  writes  of  the 
ladies,  — 

"  No  longer  they  hunt  after  ribbons  and  lace ; 
Undertakers  have  got  in  the  milliner's  place  ; 
With  hands  sacrilegious  they've  plundered  the  dead, 
And  transferred  the  gay  plumes  from  the  hearse  to  the  head." 

Fig.  24  represents  the  head-dress  worn  in  1782. 
At  no  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  was  any 
thing  more  absurd  in  head-dress  than  the  one  here 
depicted.  The  body  of  this  erection  was  formed 
of  tow,  over  which  the  hair  was  turned,  and  false 
hair  added  in  great  curls ;  bobs  and  ties,  powdered 
to  profusion,  then  hung  all  over  with  vulgarly  large 
rows  of  pearls,  or  glass  beads,  fit  only  to  decorate  a 
chandelier ;  flowers  as  obtrusive  were  stuck  about 
this  heap  of  finery,  which  was  surmounted  by  broad 
silken  bands  and  great  ostrich  feathers,  until  the 
head-dress  of  a  lady  added  three  feet  to  her  stature, 
and  "  the  male  sex,"  to  use  the  words  of  the  "  Spec- 
tator," "  became  suddenly  dwarfed  beside  her." 


DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    HEAD-DRESSES.  7 

To  effect  this,  much  time  and  trouble  were  wasted, 
and  great  personal  annoyance  was  suffered.  Heads, 
when  properly  dressed,  "  kept  for  three  weeks,"  as 
the  barbers  quaintly  phrased  it ;  that  they  would  not 
really  "keep"  longer,  may  be  seen  by  the  many 
receipts  they  gave  for  the  destruction  of  insects, 
which  bred  in  the  flour  and  pomatum  so  liberally 
bestowed  upon  them.  Fig.  25  is  another  fashionable 
outdoor  head-dress.  Fig.  26  represents  one  of  the 
hats  invented  to  cover  the  head  when  full  dressed. 
It  is  as  extravagant  as  the  head-dresses.  It  is  a 
large  but  light  compound  of  gauze,  wire,  ribbons, 
and  flowers,  sloping  over  the  forehead,  and  shelter- 
ing the  head  entirely  by  its  immensity.  Fig.  27 
shows  how  immensely  globular  the  head  of  a  lady 
had  become ;  it  swells  all  around  like  a  huge  pump- 
kin, and  curls  of  a  corresponding  size  aid  in  the 
caricature  which  now  passed  as  fashionable  taste. 
As  if  this  were  not  load  enough  for  the  fair  shoulders 
of  the  softer  sex,  it  is  swathed  with  a  huge  veil  or 
scarf,  giving  the  wearer  an  exceedingly  top-heavy 
look.  In  1790,  the  ladies  appeared  in  hats  similar 


8  DESCRIPTION    OF    THE     HEAD-DRESSES. 


to  those  worn  by  the  gentlemen  in  1792 ;  these  are 
represented  in  Figs.  28  and  30.  They  were  gayly 
decorated  with  gold  strings,  and  tassels,  crossed  and 
recrossed  over  the  crown.  The  brims  were  broad, 
raised  at  the  sides,  and  pointed  over  the  face  in  a 
manner  not  inelegant.  Fig.  29  has  the  tall,  ugly 
bonnet,  copied  from  the  French  peasantry;  a  long 
gauze  border  is  attached  to  the  edges,  which  hangs 
like  a  veil  around  the  face,  and  partially  conceals  it. 
A  hat  of  a  very  piquant  character  was  adopted  by 
the  ladies  in  1791,  of  which  a  specimen  is  given  in 
Fig.  31.  It  is  decorated  with  bows,  and  a  large 
feather  nods  not  ungracefully  over  the  crown  from 
behind.  A  person  with  good  face  and  figure  must 
have  looked  becomingly  beneath  it.  Fig.  32  is  an 
example  of  the  bad  taste  which  still  peeped  forth. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  fashionable  head-dresses  worn 
in  1789,  and  is  the  back  view  of  a  lady's  head,  sur- 
mounted by  a  very  small  cap  or  hat,  puifed  round 
with  ribbon ;  the  hair  is  arranged  in  a  long,  straight 
bunch  down  the  neck,  where  it  is  tied  by  a  ribbon, 
and  flows  in  curls  beneath  ;  long  curls  repose  one  on 


DESCRIPTION     OF    THE     HEAD-DRESSES.  9 


each  shoulder,  while  the  hair  at  the  sides  of  the  head 
is  frizzed  out  on  each  side  in  a  most  fantastic  form. 
The  hat  of  Fig.  33,  shaped  like  a  chimney  pot,  and 
decorated  with  small  tufts  of  ribbon,  and  larger 
bows,  which  fitted  on  a  lady's  head  like  the  cover  on 
a  canister,  was  viewed  with  "  marvellous  favor"  by 
many  a  fair  eye,  in  the  year  1789.  It  was  some- 
times bordered  with  lace,  as  in  Fig.  29,  thus  hiding 
the  entire  head,  and  considerably  enhancing  its 
ugliness. 

2 


10  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


CHAPTER     II. 

DRESS,   AS   A   FINE  ART. 

N  a  state  so  highly  civilized  as  that  in 
which  we  live,  the  art  of  dress  has 
become  extremely  complicated.  That 
it  is  an  art  to  set  off  our  persons  to  the 
greatest  advantage  must  be  generally 
admitted,  and  we  think  it  is  one  which,  under  cer- 
tain conditions,  may  be  studied  by  the  most  scru- 
pulous. An  art  implies  skill  and  dexterity  in  setting 
off  or  employing  the  gifts  of  nature  to  the  greatest 
advantage,  and  we  are  surely  not  wrong  in  laying  it 
down  as  a  general  principle,  that  every  one  may 
endeavor  to  set  off  or  improve  his  or  her  personal 
appearance,  provided  that,  in  doing  so,  the  party  is 
guilty  of  no  deception.  As  this  proposition  may  be 
liable  to  some  misconstruction,  we  will  endeavor  to 
explain  our  meaning. 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  11 


In  the  first  place,  the  principle  is  acted  upon  by 
all  who  study  cleanliness  and  neatness,  which  are 
universally  considered  as  positive  duties,  that  are 
not  only  conducive  to  our  own  comfort,  but  that 
society  has  a  right  to  expect  from  us.  Again :  the 
rules  of  society  require  that  to  a  certain  extent  we 
should  adopt  those  forms  of  dress  which  are  in  com- 
mon use,  but  our  own  judgment  should  be  exercised 
in  adapting  these  forms  to  our  individual  propor- 
tions, complexions,  ages,  and  stations  in  society. 
In  accomplishing  this  object,  the  most  perfect 
honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose  may  be  observed. 
No  deception  is  to  be  practised,  no  artifice  em- 
ployed, beyond  that  which  is  exercised  by  the 
painter,  who  arranges  his  subjects  in  the  most 
pleasing  forms,  and  who  selects  colors  which  har- 
monize with  each  other ;  and  by  the  manufacturer, 
who  studies  pleasing  combinations  of  lines  and 
colors.  We  exercise  taste  in  the  decoration  and 
arrangement  of  our  apartments  and  in  our  furniture, 
and  we  are  equally  at  liberty  to  do  so  with  regard 
to  our  dress ;  but  we  know  that  taste  is  not  an 


12  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


instinctive  perception  of  the  beautiful  and  agreeable, 
but  is  founded  upon  the  observance  of  certain  laws 
of  nature.  When  we  conform  to  these  laws,  the 
result  is-  pleasing  and  satisfactory ;  when  we  offend 
against  them,  the  contrary  effect  takes  place.  Our 
persons  change  with  our  years ;  the  child  passes  into 
youth,  the  youth  into  maturity,  maturity  changes 
into  old  age.  Every  period  of  life  has  its  peculiar 
external  characteristics,  its  pleasures,  its  pains,  and 
its  pursuits.  The  art  of  dress  consists  in  properly 
adapting  our  clothing  to  these  changes. 

We  violate  the  laws  of  nature  when  we  seek  to 
repair  the  ravages  of  time  on  our  complexions  by 
paint,  when  we  substitute  false  hair  for  that  which 
age  has  thinned  or  blanched,  or  conceal  the  change 
by  dyeing  our  own  gray  hair;  when  we  pad  our 
dress  to  conceal  that  one  shoulder  is  larger  than  the 
other.  To  do  either  is  not  only  bad  taste,  but  it  is 
a  positive  breach  of  sincerity.  It  is  bad  taste,  be- 
cause the  means  we  have  resorted  to  are  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  nature.  The  application  of  paint  to  the 
skin  produces  an  effect  so  different  from  the  bloom 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  13 


of  youth,  that  it  can  only  deceive  an  unpractised 
eye.  It  is  the  same  with  the  hair  :  there  is  such  a 
want  of  harmony  between  false  hair  and  the  face 
which  it  surrounds,  especially  when  that  face  bears 
the  marks  of  age,  and  the  color  of  the  hair  denotes 
youth,  that  the  effect  is  unpleasing  in  the  extreme. 
Deception  of  this  kind,  therefore,  does  not  answer 
the  end  which  it  had  in  view ;  it  deceives  nobody 
but  the  unfortunate  perpetrator  of  the  would-be 
deceit.  It  is  about  as  senseless  a  proceeding  as  that 
of  the  goose  in  the  story,  who,  when  pursued  by  the 
fox,  thrust  her  head  into  a  hedge,  and  thought  that, 
because  she  could  no  longer  see  the  fox,  the  fox  could 
not  see  her.  But  in  a  moral  point  of  view  it  is 
worse  than  silly;  it  is  adopted  with  a  view  to  de- 
ceive ;  it  is  acting  a  lie  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
and  it  ought  to  be  held  in  the  same  kind  of  detes- 
tation as  falsehood  with  the  tongue.  Zimmerman 
has  an  aphorism  which  is  applicable  to  this  case  — 
"  Those  who  conceal  their  age  do  not  conceal  their 
folly." 

The  weak  and  vain,  who  hope  to  conceal  their  age 


14  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART 


by  paint  and  false  hair,  are,  however,  morally  less 
culpable  than  another  class  of  dissemblers,  inasmuch 
as  the  deception  practised  by  the  first  is  so  palpable 
that  it  really  deceives  no  one.  With  regard  to  the 
other  class  of  dissemblers,  we  feel  some  difficulty  in 
approaching  a  subject  of  so  much  delicacy.  Yet, 
as  we  have  stated  that  we  are  at  liberty  to  im- 
prove our  natural  appearance  by  well-adapted  dress, 
we  think  it  our  duty  to  speak  out,  lest  we  should 
be  considered  as  in  any  way  countenancing  decep- 
tion. We  allude  to  those  physical  defects  induced 
by  disease,  which  are  frequently  united  to  great 
beauty  of  countenance,  and  which  are  sometimes 
so  carefully  concealed  by  the  dress,  that  they  are 
only  discovered  after  marriage. 

Having  thus,  we  hope,  established  the  innocence 
of  our  motives,  we  shall  proceed  to  mention  the 
legitimate  means  by  which  the  personal  appearance 
may  be  improved  by  the  study  of  the  art  of  dress. 

Fashion  in  dress  is  usually  dictated  by  caprice  or 
accident,  or  by  the  desire  of  novelty.  It  is  never, 
we  believe,  based  upon  the  study  of  the  figure. 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  15 


It  is  somewhat  singular  that  while  every  lady 
thinks  herself  at  liberty  to  wear  any  textile  fabric  or 
any  color  she  pleases,  she  considers  herself  bound  to 
adopt  the  form  and  style  of  dress  which  the  fashion 
of  the  day  has  rendered  popular.  The  despotism 
of  fashion  is  limited  to  form,  but  color  is  free.  We 
have  shown,  in  another  essay,  (see  closing  chap- 
ter,) what  licentiousness  this  freedom  in  the  adop- 
tion and  mixture  of  colors  too  frequently  induces. 
We  have  also  shown  that  the  colors  worn  by  ladies 
should  be  those  which  contrast  or  harmonize  best 
with  their  individual  complexions,  and  we  have 
endeavored  to  make  the  selection  of  suitable  colors 
less  difficult  by  means  of  a  few  general  rules  founded 
upon  the  laws  of  harmony  and  contrast  of  colors. 
In  the  present  essay,  we  propose  to  oifer  some 
general  observations  on  form  in  dress.  The  sub- 
ject is,  however,  both  difficult  and  complicated,  and 
as  it  is  easier  to  condemn  than  to  improve  or 
perfect,  we  shall  more  frequently  indicate  what 
fashions  should  not  be  adopted,  than  recommend 
others  to  the  patronage  of  our  readers. 


16  DRESS,    AS     A     PINE     ART. 


The  immediate  objects  of  dress  are  twofold  — 
namely,  decency  and  warmth ;  but  so  many  minor 
considerations  are  suffered  to  influence  us  in  choos- 
ing our  habiliments,  that  these  primary  objects  are 
too  frequently  kept  out  of  sight.  Dress  should  be 
not  only  adapted  to  the  climate,  it  should  also  be 
light  in  weight,  should  yield  to  the  movements  of  the 
body,  and  should  be  easily  put  on  or  removed.  It 
should  also  be  adapted  to  the  station  in  society,  and 
to  the  age,  of  the  individual.  These  are  the  essen- 
tial conditions ;  yet  in  practice  how  frequently  are 
they  overlooked ;  in  fact,  how  seldom  are  they  ob- 
served! Next  in  importance  are  general  elegance 
of  form,  harmony  in  the  arrangement  and  selection 
of  the  colors,  and  special  adaptation  in  form  and 
color  to  the  person  of  the  individual.  To  these 
objects  we  purpose  directing  the  attention  of  the 
reader. 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  we  have  pre- 
scribed ourselves,  to  enter  into  the  subject  of  dress 
minutely ;  we  can  only  deal  with  it  generally,  and 
lay  down  certain  broad  principles  for  our  guidance. 


DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART.  17 


If  these  are  observed,  there  is  still  a  wide  margin 
left  for  fancy  and  fashion.  These  may  find  scope  in 
trimmings  and  embroidery ;  the  application  of  which, 
however,  must  also  be  regulated  by  good  taste  and 
knowledge.  The  physical  variety  in  the  human 
race  is  infinite ;  so  are  the  gradations  and  combina- 
tions of  color ;  yet  we  expect  a  few  forms  of  dress  to 
suit  every  age  and  complexion !  Instead  of  the 
beautiful,  the  graceful,  and  the  becoming,  what  are 
the  attractions  offered  by  the  dress  makers  ?  What 
are  the  terms  used  to  invite  the  notice  of  customers  ? 
Novelty  and  distinction.  The  shops  are  "Magasins 
de  Nouveautes,"  the  goods  are  "  distingues,"  "  re- 
cherches, "  "  nouveaux, "  "  the  last  fashion. ' '  The  new 
fashions  are  exhibited  on  the  elegant  person  of  one 
of  the  dress  maker's  assistants,  who  is  selected  for 
this  purpose,  and  are  adopted  by  the  purchaser 
without  reflecting  how  much  of  the  attraction  of  the 
dress  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  fine  figure  of  the  wearer, 
how  much  to  the  beauty  of  the  dress,  or  whether  it 
will  look  equally  well  on  herself.  So  the  fashion  is 
set,  and  then  it  is  followed  by  others,  until  at  last  it 

3 


18  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART. 


becomes  singular  not  to  adopt  some  modification  of 
it,  although  the  extreme  may  be  avoided.  The  best 
dressers  are  generally  those  who  follow  the  fashions 
at  a  great  distance. 

Fashion  is  the  only  tyrant  against  whom  modern 
civilization  has  not  carried  on  a  crusade,  and  its 
power  is  still  as  unlimited  and  despotic  as  it  ever 
was.  From  its  dictates  there  is  no  appeal ;  health 
and  decency  are  alike  offered  up  at  the  shrine  of  this 
Moloch.  At  its  command  its  votaries  melt  under 
fur  boas  in  the  dog  days,  and  freeze  with  bare  necks 
and  arms,  in  lace  dresses  and  satin  shoes,  in  Jan- 
uary. Then,  such  is  its  caprice,  that  no  sooner  does 
a  fashion  become  general,  than,  let  its  merits  or 
beauties  be  ever  so  great,  it  is  changed  for  one  which 
perhaps  has  nothing  but  its  novelty  to  recommend 
it.  Like  the  bed  of  Procrustes,  fashions  are  com- 
pelled to  suit  every  one.  The  same  fashion  is 
adopted  by  the  tall  and  the  short,  the  stout  and  the 
slender,  the  old  and  the  young,  with  what  effect  we 
have  daily  opportunities  of  observing. 

Yet,  with  all  its  vagaries,  fashion   is  extremely 


DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART.  19 


aristocratic  in  its  tendencies.  Every  change  ema- 
nates from  the  highest  circles,  who  reject  it  when 
it  has  descended  to  the  vulgar.  No  new  form 
of  dress  was  ever  successful  which  did  not  origi- 
nate among  the  aristocracy.  From  the  ladies 
of  the  court,  the  fashions  descend  through  all  the 
ranks  of  society,  until  they  at  last  die  a  natural 
death  among  the  cast-off  clothes  of  the  housemaid* 
Fig.  35. 

Had  the  Bloomer  costume,  which  has  obtained  so 
much  notoriety,  been  introduced  by  a  tall  and  grace- 
ful scion  of  the  aristocracy,  either  of  rank  or  talent, 
instead  of  being  at  first  adopted  by  the  middle 
ranks,  it  might  have  met  with  better  success.  We 
have  seen  that  Jenny  Lind  could  introduce  a  new 
fashion  of  wearing  the  hair,  and  a  new  form  of  hat 
or  bonnet,  and  Mme.  Sontag  a  cap  which  bears  her 
name.  But  it  was  against  all  precedent  to  admit 
and  follow  a  fashion,  let  its  merits  be  ever  so  great, 
that  emanated  from  the  stronghold  of  democracy. 
We  are  content  to  adopt  the  greatest  absurdities  in 
dress  when  they  are  brought  from  Paris,  or  recom- 


20  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART, 


mended  by  a  French  name ;  but  American  fashions 
have  no  chance  of  success  in  aristocratic  England. 
It  is  beginning  at  the  wrong  end. 

The  eccentricities  of  fashion  are  so  great  that 
they  would  appear  incredible  if  we  had  not  ocular 
evidence  of  their  prevalence  in  the  portraits  which 
still  exist.  At  one  period  we  read  of  horned  head- 
dresses, which  were  so  large  and  high,  that  it  is  said 
the  doors  of  the  palace  at  Vincennes  were  obliged 
to  be  altered  to  admit  Isabel  of  Bavaria  (queen  of 
Charles  VI.  of  France)  and  the  ladies  of  her  suite. 
In  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  the  ladies'  caps 
were  three  quarters  of  an  ell  in  height,  and  were 
covered  by  pieces  of  lawn  hanging  down  to  the 
ground,  or  stretched  over  a  frame  till  they  resem- 
bled the  wings  of  a  butterfly.*  At  another  time 
the  ladies'  heads  were  covered  with  gold  nets,  like 
those  worn  at  the  present  day.  Then,  again,  the 
hair,  stiffened  with  powder  and  pomatum,  and  sur- 

*  Mr.  Planche  has  shown,  in  his  "  History  of  British  Costume," 
that  these  head-dresses  are  the  prototypes  of  those  still  worn  by 
the  women  of  Normandy. 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  21 


mounted  by  flowers,  feathers,  and  ribbons,  was 
raised  on  the  top  of  the  head  like  a  tower.  Such 
head-dresses  were  emphatically  called  "tetes."  (See 
chapter  on  Head-Dress.)  Fig.  36.  But  to  go  back 
no  farther  than  the  beginning  of  the  present  centu- 
ry, where  Mr.  Fairholt's  interesting  work  on  British 
Costume  terminates,  what  changes  have  we  to  re- 
cord !  The  first  fashion  we  remember  was  that  of 
scanty  clothing,  wThen  slender  figures  were  so  much 
admired,  that  many,  to  whom  nature  had  denied 
this  qualification,  left  off  the  under  garments  neces- 
sary for  warmth,  and  fell  victims  to  the  colds  and 
consumptions  induced  by  their  adoption  of  this 
senseless  practice.  To  these  succeeded  waists  so 
short  that  the  girdles  were  placed  almost  under  the 
arms,  and  as  the  dresses  were  worn  at  that  time 
indecently  low  in  the  neck,  the  body  of  the  dress 
was  almost  a  myth.  Fig.  39. 

About  the  same  time,  the  sleeves  were  so  short, 
and  the  skirts  so  curtailed  in  length,  that  there  was 
reason  to  fear  that  the  whole  of  the  drapery  might 
also  become  a  myth.  A  partial  reaction  then  took 


22  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART 


place,  and  the  skirts  were  lengthened  without  in- 
creasing the  width  of  the  dresses,  the  consequence 
of  which  was  felt  in  the  country,  if  not  in  the  towns. 
Then  woe  to  those  who  had  to  cross  a  ditch  or  a 
stile !  One  of  two  things  was  inevitable ;  either  the 
unfortunate  lady  was  thrown  to  the  ground,  —  and 
in  this  case  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  rise  again,  —  or 
her  dress  was  split  up*  The  result  depended  en- 
tirely upon  the  strength  of  the  materials  of  which 
the  dress  was  composed.  The  next  variation,  the 
gigot  sleeves,  namely,  were  a  positive  deformity,  in- 
asmuch as  they  gave  an  unnatural  width  to  the 
shoulders  —  a  defect  which  was  further  increased  by 
the  large  collars  which  fell  over  them,  thus  violating 
one  of  the  first  principles  of  beauty  in  the  female 
form,  which  demands  that  this  part  of  the  body 
should  be  narrow ;  breadth  of  shoulder  being  one 
of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  stronger 
sex.  We  remember  to  have  seen  an  engraving  from 
a  portrait,  by  Lawrence,  of  the  late  Lady  Blessing- 
ton,  in  which  the  breadth  of  the  shoulders  appeared 
to  be  at  least  three  quarters  of  a  yard.  When  a 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  23 


person  of  low  stature,  wearing  sleeves  of  this  de- 
scription, was  covered  with  one  of  the  long  cloaks, 
which  were  made  wide  at  the  shoulders  to  admit  the 
sleeves,  and  to  which  was  appended  a  deep  and  very 
full  cape,  the  effect  was  ridiculous,  and  the  outline 
of  the  whole  mass  resembled  that  of  a  haycock 
with  a  head  on  the  top.  Fig.  37.  One  absurdity 
generally  leads  to  another ;  to  balance  the  wide 
shoulders,  the  bonnets  and  caps  were  made  of  enor- 
mous dimensions,  and  were  decorated  with  a  profu- 
sion of  ribbons  and  flowers.  So  absurd  was  the 
whole  combination,  that,  when  we  meet  with  a  por- 
trait of  this  period,  wTe  can  only  look  on  it  in  the 
light  of  a  caricature,  and  wonder  that  such  should 
ever  have  been  so  universal  as  to  be  adopted  at  last 
by  all  who  wished  to  avoid  singularity.  The  transi- 
tion from  the  broad  shoulders  and  gigot  sleeves  to 
the  tight  sleeves  and  graceful  black  scarf  was  quite 
refreshing  to  a  tasteful  eye.  These  were  a  few  of 
the  freaks  of  fashion  during  the  last  half  century. 
Had  they  been  quite  harmless,  we  might  have  con- 
sidered them  as  merely  ridiculous ;  but  some  of  them 


24  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART 


were  positively  indecent,  and  others  detrimental  to 
health.  We  grieve  especially  for  the  former  charge  : 
it  is  an  anomaly  for  which,  considering  the  modest 
habits  and  education  of  our  countrywomen,  we  find 
it  difficult  to  account. 

It  is  singular  that  the  practice  of  wearing  dresses 
cut  low  round  the  bust  should  be  limited  to  what  is 
called  full  dress,  and  to  the  higher,  and,  except  in 
this  instance,  the  more  refined  classes.  Is  it  to  dis- 
play a  beautiful  neck  and  shoulders  ?  No ;  for  in 
this  case  it  would  be  confined  to  those  who  had 
beautiful  necks  and  shoulders  to  display.  Is  it  to 
obtain  the  admiration  of  the  other  sex  ?  That  cannot 
be ;  for  we  believe  that  men  look  upon  this  exposure 
with  unmitigated  distaste,  and  that  they  are  in- 
clined to  doubt  the  modesty  of  those  young  ladies 
who  make  so  profuse  a  display  of  their  charms. 
But  if  objectionable  in  the  young,  whose  youth  and 
beauty  might  possibly  be  deemed  some  extenuation, 
it  is  disgusting  in  those  whose  bloom  is  past, 
whether  their  forms  are  developed  with  a  ripe  luxu- 
riance which  makes  the  female  figures  of  Kubens 


DKESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART.  25 


appear  in  comparison  slender  and  refined,  or  whether 
the  yellow  skin,  stretched  over  the  wiry  sinews  of 
the  neck,  remind  one  of  the  old  women  whom  some 
of  the  Italian  masters  were  accustomed  to  introduce 
into  their  pieces,  to  enhance,  by  contrast,  the  beauty 
of  the  principal  figures.  Every  period  of  life  has 
a  style  of  dress  peculiarly  appropriate  to  it,  and  we 
maintain  that  the  uncovered  bosom  so  conspicuous 
in  the  dissolute  reign  of  Charles  II.,  and  from 
which,  indeed,  the -reign  of  Charles  I.  was  not,  as 
we  learn  from  the  Vandyck  portraits,  exempt, 
should  be  limited,  even  in  its  widest  extension,  to 
feminine  youth,  or  rather  childhood. 

If  the  dress  be  cut  low,  the  bust  should  be  covered 
after  the  modest  and  becoming  fashion  of  the  Italian 
women,  whose  highly  picturesque  costume  painters 
are  so  fond  of  representing.  The  white  drapery  has 
a  peculiarly  good  effect,  placed  as  it  is  between  the 
skin  and  richly-colored  bodice.  As  examples  of 
this  style  of  dress,  we  may  refer  to  Sir  Charles  East- 
lake's  "Pilgrims  in  Sight  of  Kome,"  "The  Grape 
Gatherer  of  Capri,"  by  Lehmann,  and  "  The  Dancing 

4 


26  DRESS,     AS     A     FIXE     ART, 


Lesson,"  by  Mr.  Uwins,  all  of  which  are  engraved 
in  the  Art  Journal.  Another  hint  may  be  borrowed 
from  the  Italian  costume ;  we  may  just  allude  to  it 
en  passant.  If  bodices  fitting  to  the  shape  must  be 
worn,  they  should  be  laced  across  the  front  in  the 
Italian  fashion.  Fig.  38.  By  this  contrivance  the 
dress  will  suit  the  figure  more  perfectly,  and  as  the 
lace  may  be  lengthened  or  shortened  at  pleasure, 
any  degree  of  tightness  may  be  given,  and  the 
bodice  may  be  accommodated  to  the  figure  without 
compressing  it.  We  find  by  the  picture  in  the 
Louvre  called  sometimes  "Titian's  Mistress"  that 
this  costume  is  at  least  as  old  as  Titian. 

We  have  noticed  the  changes  and  transitions  of 
fashion ;  we  must  mention  one  point  in  which  it  has 
continued  constant  from  the  time  of  William  Rufiis 
until  the  present  day,  and  which,  since  it  has  en- 
tailed years  of  suffering,  and  in  many  instances  has 
caused  death,  demands  our  most  serious  attention. 
We  allude  to  the  pernicious  practice  of  tight  lacing, 
which,  as  appears  from  contemporary  paintings, 
as  general  on  the  continent  as  in  England. 


DRESS,    AS    A    FINE    ART.  27 


The  savage  American  Indian  changes  the  shape 
of  the  soft  and  elastic  bones  of  the  skull  of  his 
infant  by  compressing  it  between  two  boards ;  the 
intelligent  but  prejudiced  Chinese  suffers  the  head 
to  grow  as  nature  formed  it,  but  confines  the  foot 
of  the  female  to  the  size  of  an  infant's  ;  while 
the  highly-intellectual  and  well-informed  European 
lady  limits  the  growth  of  her  waist  by  the  pressure 
of  the  stays.  When  we  consider  the  importance  of 
the  organs  which  suffer  by  these  customs,  surely  we 
must  acknowledge  that  the  last  is  the  most  bar- 
barous practice  of  the  three. 

"We  read  in  the  history  of  France  that  the  war- 
like Franks  had  such  a  dislike  to  corpulency  that 
they  inflicted  a  fine  upon  all  who  could  not  encircle 
their  waists  with  a  band  of  a  certain  length.  How 
far  this  extraordinary  custom  may  have  been  influ- 
ential in  introducing  the  predilection  for  small 
waists  among  the  ladies  of  that  country,  as  well 
as  our  own  through  the  Norman  conquerors,  we 
cannot  determine. 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  whole 


28  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART. 


of  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  from  the  waist  to 
the  chin,  was  encased  in  a  cuirass  of  whalebone, 
the  rigidity  of  which  rendered  easy  and  graceful 
movement  impossible.  The  portrait  of  Elizabeth 
by  Zucchero,  with  its  stiff  dress  and  enormous  ruff, 
and  which  has  been  so  frequently  engraved,  must 
be  in  the  memory  of  all  our  readers.  Stiffness 
was  indeed  the  characteristic  of  ladies'  dress  at  this 
period ;  the  whalebone  cuirass,  covered  with  the 
richest  brocaded  silks,  was  united  at  the  waist  with 
the  equally  stiff  vardingale  or  fardingale,  which 
descended  to  the  feet  in  the  form  of  a  large  bell, 
without  a  single  fold. 

There  is  a  portrait  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Sey- 
mour Fitzgerald  of  the  unfortunate  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots,  when  quite  young,  in  a  dress  of  this  kind ; 
and  one  cannot  help  pitying  the  poor  girl's  rigid 
confinement  in  her  stiff  and  uncomfortable  dress. 
Fig.  41  represents  Jeanne  d'Albret,  the  mother  of 
Henry  IV.,  in  the  fardingale. 

With  Henrietta  Maria  dresses  cut  low  in  the  front, 
(Fig.  40,)  and  flowing  draperies,  as  we  find  them 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  29 


in  the  Yandyck  portraits,  came  into  fashion,  but  the 
figure  still  retained  its  stiffness  around  the  waist, 
and  has  continued  to  do  so  through  all  the  gra- 
dations and  variations  in  shape  and  size  of  the 
hoop  petticoat,  and  the  scanty  draperies  of  a  later 
period,  until  the  present  day.* 

If  the  proportions  of  the  figure  were  generally 
understood,  we  should  not  hear  of  those  deplorable, 
and  in  many  cases  fatal,  results  of  tight  lacing 
which  have  unfortunately  been  so  numerous.  So 
general  has  the  pernicious  practice  been  in  this 
country,  that  a  medical  friend,  who  is  professor  of 
anatomy  in  a  provincial  academy,  informed  us  that 
there  was  great  difficulty  in  procuring  a  model 
whose  waist  had  not  been  compressed  by  stays. 
That  this  is  true  of  other  localities  besides  that 


*  The  fardingale  differed  from  the  hoop  in  the  following  par- 
ticulars :  The  hoop  petticoat  was  gathered  round  the  waist,  while 
the  fardingale  was  without  a  fold  of  any  description.  The  most 
extraordinary  instances  we  remember  to  have  seen  of  the  fardin- 
gale, are  in  two  or  three  pictures  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Spanish 
gallery  in  the  Louvre,  where  the  fardingale  in  which  the  Virgin 
is  dressed  takes  the  form  of  an  enormous  mitre. 


30  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


alluded  to,  may  be  inferred  from  a  passage  in  Mr. 
Hay's  lecture  to  the  Society  of  Arts  "  On  the  Ge- 
ometrical Principles  of  Beauty,"  in  which  he  men- 
tions having,  for  the  purpose  of  verifying  his  theory, 
employed  "an  artist  who,  having  studied  the  human 
figure  at  the  life  academies  on  the  continent,  in 
London,  and  in  Edinburgh,  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  subject,"  to  make  a  careful  drawing  of 
the  best  living  model  which  could  be  procured  for 
the  purpose.  Mr.  Hay  observes,  with  reference  to 
this  otherwise  fine  figure,  that  "  the  waist  has  evi- 
dently been  compressed  by  the  use  of  stays."  In 
further  confirmation  of  the  prevalence  of  this  bad 
habit,  we  may  refer  to  Etty's  pictures,  in  which  this 
defect  is  but  too  apparent. 

We  fear,  from  Mr.  Planche's  extracts,  that  the 
evil  was  perpetuated  by  the  poets  and  romance 
writers  of  the  Norman  period ;  and  we  are  sure  that 
the  novelists  of  our  own  times  have  much  to  an- 
swer for  on  this  score.  Had  they  not  been  forever 
praising  "  taper  waists,"  tight  lacing  would  have 
shared  the  fate  of  other  fashions,  and  have  been 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  31 


banished  from  all  civilized  society.  Similar  blame 
does  not  attach  to  the  painter  and  sculptor.  The 
creations  of  their  invention  are  modelled  upon  the 
true  principles  of  proportion  and  beauty,  and  in 
their  works  a  small  waist  and  foot  are  always 
accompanied  by  a  slender  form.  In  the  mind  of 
the  poet  and  novelist  the  same  associations  may 
take  place :  when  a  writer  describes  the  slender 
waist  or  small  foot,  he  probably  sees  mentally  the 
whole  slender  figure.  The  small  waist  is  a  propor- 
tionate part  of  the  figure  of  his  creation.  But  there 
is  this  difference  between  the  painter  and  sculptor, 
and  the  novelist.  The  works  of  the  first  two  ad- 
dress themselves  to  the  eye,  and  every  part  of  the 
form  is  present  to  the,  spectator;  consequently,  as 
regards  form,  nothing  is  left  'to  the  imagination. 
With  respect  to  the  poet  and  novelist,  their  cre- 
ations are  almost  entirely  mental  ones ;  their  de- 
scriptions touch  upon  a  few  striking  points  only, 
and  are  seldom  so  full  as  to  fill  up  the  entire 
form :  much  is,  therefore,  necessarily  left  to  the 
imagination  of  the  reader.  Now,  the  fashion  in 


32  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART, 


which  the  reader  will  supply  the  details  left  un- 
determined by  the  poet  and  novelist,  and  fill  up 
their  scanty  and  shadowy  outlines,  depends  entirely 
upon  his  knowledge  of  form;  consequently,  if  this 
be  small,  the  images  which  arise  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  from  the  perusal  of  works  of  genius  are  con- 
fused and  imperfect,  and  the  proportions  of  one 
class  of  forms  are  assigned  to,  or  mingled  with, 
those  of  others,  without  the  slightest  regard  to 
truth  and  nature.  When  we  say,  therefore,  that 
writers  leave  much  to  the  imagination,  it  may  too 
frequently  be  understood,  to  the  ignorance  of  the 
reader ;  for  the  imaginations  of  those  acquainted 
wi£h  form  and  proportion,  who  generally  constitute 
the  minority,  always  create,  well-proportioned  ideal 
forms;  while  the  ideal  productions  of  the  unedu- 
cated, whether  expressed  by  the  pencil,  the  chisel, 
or  the  pen,  are  always  ill  proportioned  and  defective. 
The  most  efficient  method  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  practice  of  tight  lacing  will  be,  not  merely  to 
point  out  its  unhealthiness,  and  even  dangerous 
consequences,  because  these,  though  imminent,  are 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  33 


uncertain,  —  every  lady  who  resorts  to  the  practice 
hoping  that  she,  individually,  may  escape  the  pen- 
alty, —  but  to  prove  that  the  practice,  so  far  from 
adding  to  the  beauty  of  the  figure,  actually  deteri- 
orates it.  This  is  an  effect,  not  doubtful,  like  the 
former  case,  but  an  actual  and  positive  fact;  and, 
therefore,  it  supplies  a  good  and  sufficient  reason, 
and  one  which  the  most  obtuse  intellect  can  com- 
prehend, for  avoiding  the  practice.  Young  ladies 
will  sometimes,  it  is  said,  run  the  risk  of  ill  health 
for  the  sake  of  the  interest  that  in  some  cases  at- 
taches to  ''delicate  health;"  but  is  there  any  one 
who  would  like  to  be  told  that,  by  tight  lacing, 
she  makes  her  figure  not  only  deformed,  but  pos- 
itively ugly?  This,  however,  is  the  plain  unvar- 
nished truth ;  and,  by  asserting  it,  we  are  striking 
at  the  root  of  the  evil.  The  remedy  is  easy :  give 
to  every  young  lady  a  general  knowledge  of  form, 
and  of  the  principles  of  beauty  as  applied  to  the 
human  frame,  and  when  these  are  better  under- 
stood, and  acted  on,  tight  lacing  will  die  a  nat- 
ural death. 


34  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART, 


The  study  of  form,  on  scientific  principles,  has 
hitherto  been  limited  entirely  to  men;  and  if  some 
women  have  attained  this  knowledge,  it  has  been 
by  their  own  unassisted  efforts ;  that  is  to  say,  with- 
out the  advantages  which  men  derive  from  lectures 
and  academical  studies.  In  this,  as  in  other  ac- 
quirements, the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  as  regards 
women,  is  always  attended  with  difficulties.  While 
fully  concurring  in  the  propriety  of  having  separate 
schools  for  male  and  female  students,  we  do  think 
that  a  knowledge  of  form  may  be  communicated 
to  all  persons,  and  that  a  young  woman  will  not 
make  the  worse  wife,  or  mother,  for  understanding 
the  economy  of  the  human  frame,  and  for  having 
acquired  the  power  of  appreciating  its  beauties. 
We  fear  that  there  are  still  some  persons  whose 
minds  are  so  contracted  as  to  think  that,  not  only 
studies  of  this  nature,  but  even  the  contemplation 
of  undraped  statuary,  are  derogatory  to  the  delicacy 
and  purity  of  the  female  mind ;  but  we  are  satis- 
fied that  the  thinking  part  of  the  community  will 
approve  the  course  we  recommend.  Dr.  Southwood 


DRESS,     AS     A     PINE     ART.  35 


Smith,  who  is  so  honorably  distinguished  by  his 
endeavors  to  promote  the  sanatory  condition  of  the 
people,  strenuously  advocates  the  necessity  of  giving 
to  all  women  a  knowledge  of  the  structure  and 
functions  of  the  body,  with  a  view  to  the  proper 
discharge  of  their  duties  as  mothers.  He  remarks 
(Preface  to  "Philosophy  of  Health")  on  this  sub- 
ject, "  I  look  upon  that  notion  of  delicacy  which 
would  exclude  women  from  knowledge  calculated  in 
an  extraordinary  degree  to  open,  exalt,  and  purify 
their  minds,  and  to  fit  them  for  the  performance 
of  their  duties,  as  alike  degrading  to  those  to  whom 
it  affects  to  show  respect,  and  debasing  to  the 
mind  that  entertains  it." 

At  the  present  time,  the  knowledge  of  what  con- 
stitutes true  beauty  of  form  is,  perhaps,  best  ac- 
quired by  the  contemplation  of  good  pictures  and 
sculpture.  This  may  not  be  in  the  power  of  every 
body ;  casts,  however,  may  be  frequently  obtained 
from  the  best  statues ;  and  many  of  the  finest  works 
of  painting  are  rendered  familiar  to  us  by  engravings. 
The  Art  Journal  has  done  much  in  diffusing  a 


36  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


taste  for  art,  by  the  engravings  it  contains  from 
statues,  and  from  the  fine  works  of  English  art  in 
the  "Vernon  Gallery."  Engravings,  however,  can 
of  course  represent  a  statue  in  one  point  of  view 
only;  but  casts  are  now  so  cheap  as  to  be  within 
the  reach  of  all  persons.  Small  models  of  the 
"Greek  Slave"  are  not  unfrequently  offered  by  the 
Italian  image  venders  for  one  shilling ;  and  although 
these  are  not  sharp  enough  to  draw  from,  the  form 
is  sufficiently  correct  to  study  the  general  propor- 
tions of  the  figure;  and  as  this  figure  is  more  up- 
right than  statues  usually  are,  it  may  be  found 
exceedingly  useful  for  the  above  purpose.  One  of 
these  casts,  or,  if  possible,  a  sharper  and  better  cast 
of  a 'female  figure,  should  be  found  on  the  toilette  of 
every  young  lady  who  is  desirous  of  obtaining  a 
knowledge  of  the  proportions  and  beauties  of  the 
figure. 

We  believe  it  will  always  be  found  that  the 
beauty  of  a  figure  depends  not  only  upon  the  sym- 
metry of  the  parts  individually,  but  upon  the 
harmony  and  proportion  of  each  part  to  the  rest. 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  37 


The  varieties  of  the  human  form  have  been  classed 
under  the  general  heads  of  the  broad,  the  propor- 
tionate, and  the  slender. 

The  first  betokens  strength;  and  what  beauty 
soever,  of  a  peculiar  kind,  it  may  display  in  the 
figure  of  the  Hercules,  it  is  not  adapted  to  set  off 
the  charms  of  the  female  sex.  If,  however,  each 
individual  part  bears  a  proportionate  relation  to 
the  whole,  the  figure  will  not  be  without  its  at- 
traction. It  is  only  when  the  proportions  of  two 
or  three  of  the  classes  are  united  in  one  individual, 
that  the  figure  becomes  ungraceful  and  remarkable. 
The  athletic  —  if  the  term  may  be  applied  to  fe- 
males—  form  of  .the  country  girl  would  appear 
ridiculous  with  the  small  waist,  and  the  white  and 
taper  fingers,  and  small  feet  of  the  individuals  who 
come  under  the  denomination  of  slender  forms. 
The  tall  and  delicate  figure  would  lose  its  beauty 
if  united  to  the  large  and  broad  hands  which  per- 
tain to  the  stronger  type.  A  small  waist  and  foot 
are  as  great  a  blemish  to  an  individual  of  the  broad 
variety  as  a  large  waist  and  foot  are  to  the  slender. 


38  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART, 


"There  is  a  harmony,"  says  Dr.  Wampen,  " between 
all  the  parts  in  each  kind  of  form,  but  each  integral 
is  only  suited  to  its  own  kind  of  form.  True  beauty 
consists  not  only  in  the  harmony  of  the  elements, 
but  in  their  being  suitable  to  the  kind  of  form." 
Were  this  fundamental  truth  but  thoroughly  un- 
derstood, small  waists  and  small  feet  would  be  at 
a  discount.  When  they  are  recognized  as  small, 
they  have  ceased  to  be  beautiful,  because  they  are 
disproportionate.  Where  every  part  of  a  figure  is 
perfectly  proportioned  to  the  rest,  no  single  parts 
appear  either  large  or  small. 

The  ill  effects  of  the  stays  in  a  sanatoiy  point 
of  view  have  been  frequently  pointed  out,  and  we 
hope  are  now  understood.  It  will,  therefore,  be 
unnecessary  to  enlarge  on  this  head.  We  have 
asserted  that  stays  are  detrimental  to  beauty  of 
form ;  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  show  in  what 
particulars. 

The  natural  form  of  the  part  of  the  trunk  which 
forms  the  waist  is  not  absolutely  cylindrical,  but  is 
flattened  considerably  in  front  and  back,  so  that  the 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  39 


breadth  is  much  greater  from  side  to  side  than  from 
front  to  back.  This  was  undoubtedly  contrived  for 
wise  purposes;  yet  fashion,  with  its  usual  caprice, 
has  interfered  with  nature,  and  by  promulgating  the 
pernicious  error  that  a  rounded  form  of  the  waist 
is  more  beautiful  than  the  flattened  form  adopted 
by  nature,  has  endeavored  to  effect  this  change  by 
means  of  the  stays,  which  force  the  lower  ribs 
closer  together,  and  so  produce  the  desired  form. 
Nothing  can  be  more  ungraceful  than  the  sudden 
diminution  in  the  size  of  the  waist  occasioned  by 
the  compression  of  the  ribs,  as  compared  with  the 
gently  undulating  line  of  nature;  yet,  we  are  sorry 
to  say,  nothing  is  more  common.  A  glance  at  the 
cuts,  Figs.  43,  44,  45,  46,  from  the  work  of  Som- 
msering,  will  explain  our  meaning  more  clearly  than 
words.  Fig.  43  represents  the  natural  waist  of  the 
Yenus  of  antiquity ;  Fig.  45,  that  of  a  lady  of  the 
modern  period.  The  diagrams  44  and  46  show  the 
structure  of  the  ribs  of  each.  ', 

It  will  be  seen  that,  by  the  pressure  of  the  stays, 
the  arch  formed  by  the  lower  ribs  is  entirely  closed, 


40  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


and  the  waist  becomes  four  or  five  inches  smaller 
than  it  was  intended  by  nature.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  persons  so  deformed  should  have  bad  health, 
or  that  they  should  produce  unhealthy  offspring? 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  so  many  young  mothers 
should  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  their  first  born? 
We  have  frequently  traced  tight  lacing  in  connec- 
tion with  this  sad  event,  and  we  cannot  help  look- 
ing upon  it  as  cause  and  effect. 

By  way  of  further  illustration,  we  refer  our  readers 
to  some  of  the  numerous  engravings  from  statues  in 
the  Art  Journal,  which,  though  very  beautiful,  are 
not  distinguished  by  small  waists.  We  may  men- 
tion, as  examples,  Bailey's  "  Graces  ;  "  Marshall's 
"  Dancing  Girl  Reposing  ;  "  "  The  Toilet,"  by  Wick- 
man  ;  "  The  Bavaria,"  by  Schwanthaler ;  and  "  The 
Psyche,"  by  Theed. 

There  is  another  effect  produced  by  tight  lacing, 
which  is  too  ungraceful  in  its  results  to  be  over- 
looked, namely,  that  a  pressure  on  one  part  is 
frequently,  from  the  elasticity  of  the  figure,  com- 
pensated by  an  enlargement  in  another  part.  It 


DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART.  41 


has  been  frequently  urged  by  inconsiderate  persons, 
that,  where  there  is  a  tendency  to  corpulency,  stays 
are  necessary  to  limit  exuberant  growth,  and  con- 
fine the  form  within  the  limits  of  gentility.  We 
believe  that  this  is  entirely  a  mistake,  and  that, 
if  the  waist  be  compressed,  greater  fulness  will  be 
perceptible  both  above  and  below,  just  as,  when 
one  ties  a  string  tight  round  the  middle  of  a  pil- 
low, it  is  rendered  fuller  at  each  end.  With  ref- 
erence to  the  waist,  as  to  every  thing  else,  the  juste 
milieu  is  literally  the  thing  to  be  desired. 

It  has  been  already  observed,  that  a  small  waist 
is  beautiful  only  when  it  is  accompanied  by  a  slen- 
der and  small  figure ;  but,  as  the  part  of  the  trunk, 
immediately  beneath  the  arms,  is  filled  with  pow- 
erful muscles,  these,  when  developed  by  exercise, 
impart  a  breadth  to  this  part  of  the  figure  which, 
by  comparison,  causes  the  waist  to  appear  small. 
A  familiar  example  of  this,  in  the  male  figure,  pre- 
sents itself  in  the  Hercules,  the  waist  of  which 
appears  disproportionately  small;  yet  it  is  really 
of  the  normal  size,  its  apparent  smallness  being 

6 


42  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART 


occasioned  by  the   prodigious  development  of  the 
muscles  of  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 

The  true  way  of  diminishing  the  apparent  size 
of  the  waist,  is,  as  we  have  remarked  above,  by 
increasing  the  power  of  the  muscles  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  frame.  This  can  only  be  done  by  ex- 
ercise ;  and  as  the  habits  of  society,  as  now  con- 
stituted, preclude  the  employment  of  young  ladies 
in  household  duties,  they  are  obliged  to  find  a  sub- 
stitute for  this  healthy  exertion  in  calisthenics. 
There  was  a  time  when  even  the  queens  of  Spain 
did  not  disdain  to  employ  their  royal  hands  in 
making  sausages;  and  to  such  perfection  was  this 
culinary  accomplishment  carried  at  one  period,  that 
it  is  upon  record  that  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  after 
his  retirement  from  the  cares  and  dignities  of  the 
empire,  longed  for  sausages  "of  the  kind  which 
Queen  Juana,  now  in  glory,  used  to  pride  herself 
in  making  in  the  Flemish  fashion."  (See  Mr.  Stir- 
ling's "Cloister  Life  of  Charles  V.")  This  is  really 
like  going  back  to  the  old  times,  when  — 

"The  Queen  of  Hearts,  she  made  some  tarts." 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  43 


In  England,  some  fifty  years  ago,  the  young 
ladies  of  the  ancient  city  of  Norwich  were  not 
considered  to  have  completed  their  education,  until 
they  had  spent  some  months  under  the  tuition 
of  the  first  confectioner  in  the  city,  in  learn- 
ing to  make  cakes  and  pastry  —  an  art  which 
they  afterwards  continued  when  they  possessed 
houses  of  their  own.  This  wholesome  discipline 
of  beating  eggs  and  whipping  creams,  kneading 
biscuits  and  gingerbread,  was  calculated  to  pre- 
serve their  health,  and  afford  sufficient  exercise  to 
the  muscles  of  the  arms  and  shoulders,  without  hav- 
ing recourse  to  artificial  modes  of  exertion. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  ancients  set  the 
same  value  upon  a  small  waist  as  the  moderns; 
for,  in  their  draped  female  figures,  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  waist  is  seldom  visible,  some  folds  of  the 
drapery  being  suffered  to  fall  over  a  part,  thus 
leaving  its  exact  extent  to  the  imagination.  The 
same  remark  is  applicable  to  the  great  Ital- 
ian painters,  who  seldom  marked  the  whole 
contour  of  the  waist,  unless  when  painting  por- 


44  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART. 


traits,  in  which  case  the  costume  was  of  course 
observed. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  with  the  shoulders,  the 
true  width  of  which  was  always  seen ;  and  how 
voluminous  soever  the  folds  of  the  drapery  around 
the  body,  it  was  never  arranged  so  as  to  add  to 
the  width  of  the  shoulders.  Narrow  shoulders  and 
broad  hips  are  esteemed  beauties  in  the  female 
figure,  while  in  the  male  figure  the  broad  shoul- 
ders and  narrow  hips  are  most  admired. 

The  costume  of  the  modern  Greeks  is  frequently 
very  graceful,  (Fig.  47,  peasant  from  the  environs  of 
Athens,)  and  it  adapts  itself  well  to  the  figure,  the 
movements  of  which  it  does  not  restrain.  The  pre- 
vailing characteristics  of  the  costume  are  a  long 
robe,  reaching  to  the  ground,  with  full  sleeves,  very 
wide  at  the  bands.  This  dress  is  frequently  em- 
broidered with  a  graceful  pattern  round  the  skirt 
and  sleeves.  Over  it  is  worn  a  pelisse,  which 
reaches  only  to  the  knees,  and  is  open  in  front; 
either  without  any  sleeves,  or  with  tight  ones,  fin- 
ishing at  the  elbows;  beneath  which  are  seen  the 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  45 


full  sleeves  of  the  long  robe.  The  drapery  over  the 
bust  is  full,  and  is  sometimes  confined  at  the  waist 
by  a  belt ;  at  others  it  is  suffered  to  hang  loosely 
until  it  meets  the  broad,  sash-like  girdle  which 
encircles  the  hips,  and  which  hangs  so  loosely  that 
the  hands  are  rested  in  its  folds  as  in  a  pocket. 

The  drapery  generally  terminates  at  the  throat, 
under  a  necklace  of  coins  or  jewels.  The  most 
usual  form  of  head-dress  is  a  veil  so  voluminous 
as  to  cover  the  head  and  shoulders;  one  end  of 
the  veil  is  frequently  thrown  over  the  shoulder,  or 
gathered  into  a  knot  behind.  The  shoes,  apparently 
worn  only  for  walking,  consist  generally  of  a  very 
thick  sole,  with  a  cap  over  the  toes. 

One  glance  at  the  graceful  figures  in  the  plates 
is  sufficient  to  show  how  unnecessary  stays  are  to 
the  beauty  of  the  figure.  Fig.  48,  Shepherdess  of 
Arcadia. 

The  modern  Greek  costumes  which  we  have  se- 
lected for  our  illustrations,  from  the  beautiful  work 
of  M.  de  Stackelberg,  ("  Costumes  et  Peuples  de  la 
Grece  Moderne,"  published  at  Rome,  1825,)  suggest 


4:6  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART 


several  points  for  consideration,  and  some  for  our 
imitation.  The  dress  is  long  and  flowing,  and  high 
in  the  neck.  It  does  not  add  to  the  width  of  the 
shoulders;  it  conceals  the  exact  size  of  the  waist 
by  the  loose  pelisse,  which  is  open  in  front;  it 
falls  in  a  graceful  and  flowing  line  from  the  arm- 
pits, narrowing  a  little  at  the  waist,  and  spreading 
gently  over  the  hips,  when  the  skirt  falls  by  its 
own  weight  into  large  folds,  instead  of  curving  sud- 
denly from  an  unnaturally  small  waist  over  a  hid- 
eous bustle,  and  increasing  in  size  downward  to 
the  hem  of  the  dress,  like  a  bell,  as  in  the  present 
English  costume. 

Figs.  42  and  49  are  selected  from  the  "Illustrated 
London  News."  (Volume  for  1851,  July  to  Decem- 
ber, pp.  20  and  117.)  The  one  represents  out-door 
costume,  the  other  in-door.  Many  such  are  scat- 
tered through  the  pages  of  our  amusing  and  val- 
uable contemporary.  For  the  out-door  costume  we 
beg  to  refer  our  readers  to  the  large  woodcut  in 
the  same  volume,  (pp.  424,  425.)  If  a  traveller 
from  a  distant  country,  unacquainted  with  the 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  47 


English  and  French  fashions,  were  to  contemplate 
this  cut,  he  would  be  puzzled  to  account  for  the 
remarkable  shape  of  the  ladies,  who  all,  more  or 
less,  resemble  the  figure  we  have  selected  for  our 
illustration ;  and,  if  he  is  any  thing  of  a  natural- 
ist, he  will  set  them  down  in  his  own  mind  as 
belonging  to  a  new  species  of  the  genus  homo. 
Looking  at  this  and  other  prints  of  the  day,  we 
should  think  that  the  artists  intended  to  convey 
a  satire  on  the  ladies'  dress,  if  we  did  not  fre- 
quently meet  with  such  figures  in  real  life. 

The  lady  in  the  evening  dress  (Fig  49)  is  from 
a  large  woodcut  in  the  same  journal  representing 
a  ball.  This  costume,  with  much  pretension  to 
elegance,  exhibits  most  of  the  faults  of  the  modern 
style  of  dress.  It  combines  the  indecently  low 
dress,  with  the  pinched  waist,  and  the  hoop  petti- 
coat. In  the  figure  of  the  woman  of  Mitylene, 
(Fig.  50,)  the  true  form  and  width  of  the  shoulders 
are  apparent,  and  the  form  of  the  bust  is  indi- 
cated, but  not  exposed,  through  the  loosely  fitting 
drapery  which  covers  it.  In  the  figure  of  the 


48  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART, 


Athenian  peasant,  (Fig..  47,)  the  loose  drapery 
over  the  bust  is  confined  at  the  waist  by  a  broad 
band,  while  the  hips  are  encircled  by  the  sash-like 
girdle  in  which  the  figure  rests  her  hands.  The 
skirt  of  the  pelisse  appears  double,  and  the  short 
sleeve,  embroidered  at  the  edge,  shows  the  full 
sleeve  of  the  under  drapery,  also  richly  embroi- 
dered. In  the  second  figure  from  the  environs  of 
Athens,  (Fig.  51,)  we  observe  that  the  skirt  of  the 
pelisse,  instead  of  being  set  on  in  gathers  or  plaits, 
as  our  dresses  are,  is  "gored,"  or  sloped  away  at 
the  top,  where  it  unites  almost  imperceptibly  with 
the  body,  giving  rise  to  undulating  lines,  instead 
of  sudden  transitions  and  curves.  In  the  cut  of 
the  Arcadian  peasant,  (Fig.  48,)  the  pelisse  is  short- 
ened almost  to  a  spencer,  or  cote  hardie,  and  it  wants 
the  graceful  flow  of  the  longer  skirt,  for  which  the 
closely  fitting  embroidered  apron  is  no  compensa- 
tion. This  figure  is  useful  in  showing  that  tight 
bodies  may  be  fitted  to  the  figure  without  stays. 
The  heavy  rolled  girdle  on  the  hips  is  no  improve- 
ment. The  dress  of  the  Algerine  woman,  (Fig.  53,) 


DRESS,    AS     A     FINE    ART.  49 


copied  from  the  "  Illustrated  London  News,"  bears 
a  strong  resemblance  to  the  Greek  costume,  and 
is  very  graceful.  It  is  not  deformed  either  by  the 
pinched  waist  or  the  stays.  In  the  tenth  century, 
the  French  costume  (Fig.  52)  somewhat  resembled 
that  of  the  modern  Greeks;  the  former,  however, 
had  not  the  short  pelisse,  but,  in  its  place,  the 
ladies  wore  a  long  veil,  which  covered  the  head, 
and  reached  nearly  to  the  feet. 

The  Greek  and  Oriental  costume  has  always  been 
a  favorite  with  painters:  the  " Yernon  Gallery"  fur- 
nishes us  with  two  illustrations ;  and  the  excellent 
engravings  of  these  subjects  in  the  Art  Journal  enable 
us  to  compare  the  costumes  of  the  two  figures  while 
at  a  distance  from  the  originals.  The  graceful  fig- 
ure of  "  The  Greek  Girl,"  (engraved  in  the  Art  Jour- 
nal for  1850,)  painted  by  Sir  Charles  Bastlake,  is  not 
compressed  by  stays,  but  is  easy  and  natural.  The 
white  under-drapery  is  confined  at  the  waist,  which 
is  short,  by  a  broad  girdle,  which  appears  to  en- 
circle it  more  than  "once,  and  adds  to  the  apparent 
length  of  the  waist;  the  open  jacket,  without  a 


50  DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART. 


collar,  falls  gracefully  from  the  shoulders,  and  con- 
ceals the  limits  of  the  waist ;  eveiy  thing  is  easy, 
natural,  and  graceful.  M.  De  Stackelberg's  beauti- 
ful figure  of  the  "Archon's  Wife"  (Fig.  54)  shows 
the  district  whence  Sir  C.  Eastlake  drew  his  model. 
There  is  the  same  flowing  hair,  —  from  which  hang 
carnations,  as  in  the  picture  in  the  "Vernon  Gal- 
lery,"—  the  same  cap,  the  same  necklace.  But  in 
the  baron's  figure,  we  find  the  waist  encircled  with 
a  broad  band,  six  or  seven  inches  in  width,  while 
the  lady  rests  her  hand  on  the  sash-like  girdle, 
which  falls  round  the  hips. 

Turn  we  now  to  Pickersgill's  "  Syrian  Maid,"  (en- 
graved in  the  Art  Journal  for  1850:)  here,  we  see,  the 
artist  has  taken  a  painter's  license,  and  represented 
the  fair  Oriental  in  stays,  which,  we  believe,  are 
happily  unknown  in  the  East.  How  stiff  and  con- 
strained does  this  figure  appear,  after  looking  at 
Sir  C.  Eastlake' s  beautiful  " Greek  Girl;  "  how  un- 
natural the  form  of  the  chest!  The  limits  of  the 
waist  are  not  visible,  it  is  true,  in  the  "Syrian 
Maid,"  but  the  shadow  is  so  arranged,  that  the 


DRESS,     AS     A     FINE     ART.  51 


rounded  form,  to  which  we  have  before  alluded,  and 
which  fashion  deems  necessary,  is  plainly  percep- 
tible; and  an  impression  is  made  that  the  waist  is 
small  and  pinched. 

We  could  mention  some  cases  in  which  the  girdle 
is  omitted  altogether,  without  any  detriment  to  the 
gracefulness  of  the  figure.  Such  dresses,  however, 
though  illustrative  of  the  principle,  are  not  adapted 
to  the  costume  of  real  life.  In  sculpture,  however, 
they  frequently  occur.  We  may  mention  Gibson's 
statue  of  her  majesty,  the  female  figure  in  M'Dougall's 
"Triumph  of  Love,"  and  " Penelope,"  by  Wyatt, 
which  are  engraved  in  the  Art  Journal,  (the  first 
in  the  year  1846,  the  others  in  1849.)  But  the 
drapery  of  statues  can,  however,  scarcely  be  taken 
as  a  precedent  for  that  of  the  living  subject,  and 
although  we  mention  that  the  girdle  is  sometimes 
dispensed  with,  we  are  far  from  advocating  this  in 
practice;  nay,  we  consider  the  sash  or  girdle  is 
indispensable;  all  that  we  stipulate  for  is,  that  it 
should  not  be  so  tight  as  to  compress  the  figure, 
or  impede  circulation. 


52  DRESS,    AS     A     FINE     ART, 


In  concluding  our  remarks  on  this  subject,  we 
would  observe,  that  the  best  means  of  improving 
the  figure  are  to  secure  freedom  of  motion  by  the 
use  of  light  and  roomy  clothing,  and  to  strength- 
en the  muscles  by  exercise.  We  may  also  observe, 
that  singing  is  not  only  beneficial  to  the  lungs, 
but  that  it  strengthens  the  muscles,  and  increases 
the  size  of  the  chest,  and,  consequently,  makes  the 
waist  appear  smaller.  Singing,  and  other  suitable 
exercises  in  which  both  arms  are  used  equally,  will 
improve  the  figure  more  than  all  the  backboards  in 
the  world. 


THE     HEAD.  53 


CHAPTEE    III. 

THE    HEAD. 

HEKE  is  no  part  of  the  body  which 
has  been  more  exposed  to  the  vicis- 
situdes of  fashion  than  the  head, 
both  as  regards  its  natural  covering 
of  hair,  and  the  artificial  covering 
of  caps  and  bonnets.  At  one  time,  we  read  of 
sprinkling  the  hair  with  gold  dust ;  at  another 
time,  the  bright  brown  hair,  of  the  color  of  the 
horse-chestnut,  so  common  in  Italian  pictures,  was 
the  fashion.  This  color,  as  well  as  that  beautiful 
light  golden  tint  sometimes  seen  in  Italian  pic- 
tures of  the  same  period,  was  frequently  the  result 
of  art,  and  receipts  for  producing  both  tints  are 
still  to  be  found  in  old  books  of  "secreti."  Both 
these  were  in  their  turn  discarded,  and  after  a 
time  the  real  color  of  the  hair  was  lost  in  pow- 


54  THEHEAD. 


der  and  pomatum.  The  improving  taste  of  the 
present  generation  is,  perhaps,  nowhere  more  con- 
spicuous than  in  permitting  us  to  preserve  the 
natural  color  of  the  hair,  and  to  wear  our  own, 
whether  it  be  black,  brown,  or  gray.  There  is  also 
a  marked  improvement  in  the  more  natural  way 
in  which  the  hair  has  been  arranged  during  the 
last  thirty  years.  We  allude,  particularly,  to  its 
being  suffered  to  retain  the  direction  intended  by 
nature,  instead  of  being  combed  upright,  and  turned 
over  a  cushion  a  foot  or  two  in  height. 

These  head-dresses,  emphatically  called,  from  their 
French  origin,  tetes,  were  built  or  plastered  up  only 
once  a  month:  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what  a  state 
they  must  have  been  in  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  time.  Madame  D'Oberkirch  gives,  in  her  Me- 
moirs, an  amusing  description  of  a  novel  head-dress 
of  this  kind.  We  transcribe  it  for  the  amusement 
of  our  readers. 

"This  blessed  6th  of  June  she  awakened  me  at 
the  earliest  dawn.  I  was  to  get  my  hair  dressed, 
and  make  a  grand  toilette,  in  order  to  go  to  Yer- 


THEHEAD.  55 


sallies,  whither  the  queen  had  invited  the  Countess 
du  Nord,  for  whose  amusement  a  comedy  was  to 
be  performed.  These  Court  toilettes  are  never-end- 
ing, and  this  road  from  Paris  to  Versailles  very  fa- 
tiguing, especially  where  one  is  in  continual  fear 
of  rumpling  her  petticoats  and  flounces.  I  tried 
that  day,  for  the  first  time,  a  new  fashion  —  one, 
too,  which  was  not  a  little  genante.  I  wore  in  my 
hair  little  flat  bottles,  shaped  to  the  curvature  of 
the  head ;  into  these  a  little  water  was  poured, 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  freshness  of  the 
natural  flowers  worn  in  the  hair,  and  of  which  the 
stems  were  immersed  in  the  liquid.  This  did  not 
always  succeed,  but  when  it  did,  the  effect  was 
charming.  Nothing  could  be  more  lovely  than  the  floral 
wreath  crowning  the  snowy  pyramid  of  powdered  hair! " 
Few  of  our  readers,  we  reckon,  are  inclined  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  admiration  of  the  baroness,  so  fan- 
cifully expressed,  for  this  singular  head-dress. 

We  do  not  presume  to  enter  into  the  question 
whether  short  curls  are  more  becoming  than  long 
ones,  or  whether  bands  are  preferable  to  curls  of 


Ob  THE     HEAD. 

any  kind ;  because,  as  the  hair  of  some  persons  curls 
naturally,  while  that  of  others  is  quite  straight,  we 
consider  that  this  is  one  of  the  points  which  must 
be  decided  accordingly  as  one  style  or  the  other 
is  found  to  be  most  suitable  to  the  individual. 
The  principle  in  the  arrangement  of  the  hair  round 
the  forehead  should  be  to  preserve  or  assist  the  oval 
form  of  the  face :  as  this  differs  in  different  individ- 
uals, the  treatment  should  be  adapted  accordingly. 
The  arrangement  of  the  long  hair  at  the  back  of 
the  head  is  a  matter  of  taste ;  as  it  interferes  but 
little  with  the  countenance,  it  may  be  referred  to 
the  dictates  of  fashion ;  although  in  this,  as  in 
every  thing  else,  simplicity  in  the  arrangement, 
and  grace  in  the  direction  of  the  lines,  are  the 
chief  points  to  be  considered.  One  of  the  most 
elegant  head-dresses  we  remember  to  have  seen, 
is  that  worn  by  the  peasants  of  the  Milanese  and 
Ticinese.  They  have  almost  uniformly  glossy,  black 
hair,  which  is  carried  round  the  back  of  the  head 
in  a  wide  braid,  in  which  are  placed,  at  regular 
intervals,  long  silver  pins,  with  large  heads,  which 


THEHEAD.  57 


produce  the  effect  of  a  coronet,  and  contrast  well 
with  the  dark  color  of  the  hair. 

The  examples  afforded  by  modern  sculpture  are 
not  very  instructive,  inasmuch  as  the  features 
selected  by  the  sculptors  are  almost  exclusively 
Greek,  whereas  the  variety  in  nature  is  infinite. 
"With  the  Greek  features  has  also  been  adopted 
the  antique  style  of  arranging  the  hair,  which  is 
beautifully  simple;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  parted  in 
the  front,  and  falling  down  towards  each  temple, 
while  .the  long  ends  rolled  lightly  back  from  the 
face  so  as  to  show  the  line  which  separates  the 
hair  from  the  forehead,  or  rather  where  it  seems, 
as  it  were,  to  blend  with  the  flesh  tints  —  an  ar- 
rangement which  assists  in  preserving  the  oval 
contour  of  the  face,  are  passed  over  the  top  of 
the  ear,  and  looped  into  the  fillet  which  binds  the 
head.  The  very  becoming  arrangement  of  the  hair 
in  the  engraving,  from  a  portrait  by  Parmegianino, 
(Fig.  55,)  is  an  adaptation  of  the  antique  style, 
and  is  remarkable  for  its  simplicity  and  grace. 
Not  less  graceful,  although  more  ornamental,  is  the 

8 


58 


THE     HEAD. 


arrangement  of  the  hair  in  the  beautiful  figure 
called  "Titian's  Daughter."  Fig.  56.  In  both  these 
instances,  we  observe  the  line  —  if  line  it  may  be 
called  —  where  the  color  of  the  hair  blends  so  har- 
moniously with  the  delicate  tints  of  the  forehead. 
The  same  arrangement  of  the  hair  round  the  face 
may  be  traced  in  the  pictures  by  Murillo,  and  other 
great  masters. 

Sir  Joshua  Keynolds  has  frequently  evinced  con- 
summate skill  in  the  arrangement  of  the  hair,  so 
as  to  show  the  line  which  divides  it  from  the  fore- 
head. For  some  interesting  remarks  on  this  sub- 
ject, we  refer  our  readers  to  an  "  Essay  on  Dress," 
republished  by  Mr.  Murray  from  the  "  Quarterly  Ee- 
view."  Nothing  can  be  more  graceful  than  Sir 
Joshua's  mode  of  disposing  of  the  hair  when  he 
was  able  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  good 
taste;  and  he  deserves  great  credit  for  the  skill 
with  which  he  frequently  treated  the  enormous 
head-dresses  which  in  his  time  disfigured  the  heads 
of  our  countrywomen.  The  charming  figure  of  Lady 
Harrington  (Fig.  57)  would  have  been  perfect  without 


THE     HEAD.  59 


the  superstructure  on  her  beautiful  head.  How 
stiff  is  the  head-dress  of  the  next  figure,  (Fig.  58,) 
also,  after  Sir  Joshua,  when  compared  with  the 
preceding. 

The  graceful  Spanish  mantilla,  to  which  we  can 
only  allude,  is  too  elegant  to  be  overlooked:  the 
modification  of  it,  which  of  late  years  has  been 
introduced  into  this  country,  is  to  be  considered 
rather  as  an  ornament  than  as  a  head-covering.  It 
has  been  recently  superseded  by  the  long  bows  of 
ribbon  worn  at  the  back  of  the  head  —  a  costume 
borrowed  from  the  Roman  peasants.  Fig.  59.  The 
fashion  for  young  people  to  cover  the  hair  with  a 
silken  net,  which,  some  centuries  ago,  was  prevalent 
both  in  England  and  in  France,  has  been  again 
revived.  Some  of  the  more  recent  of  these  nets 
are  very  elegant  in  form. 

The  hats  and  bonnets  have,  during  the  last  few 
years,  been  so  moderate  in  size,  and  generally  so 
graceful  in  form,  that  we  will  not  criticize  them 
more  particularly.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  observe 
that,  let  the  brim  be  what  shape  it  will,  the  crown 


60  THE     HEAD. 


should  be  nearly  of  the  form  and  size  of  the  head. 
If  this  principle  were  always  kept  in  view,  as  it 
should  be,  we  should  never  again  see  the  monster 
hats  and  bonnets  which,  some  years  ago,  and  even 
in  the  memory  of  persons  now  living,  caricatured 
the  lovely  forms  of  our  countrywomen. 


THE     DKESS. 


CHAPTEE    IV. 

THE    DRESS. 

E  shall  consider  the  dress,  by  which 
we  mean,  simply,  the  upper  garment 
worn  within  doors,  as  consisting  of 
three  parts  —  the  sleeve,  the  body, 
and  the  skirt. 

The  sleeve  has  changed  its  form  as  frequently  as 
any  part  of  our  habiliments :  sometimes  it  reached 
to  the  wrist,  sometimes  to  a  short  distance  below 
the  shoulder.  Sometimes  it  was  tight  to  the  arm ; 
sometimes  it  fell  in  voluminous  folds  to  the  hands ; 
now  it  was  widest  at  the  top,  then  widest  at  the 
bottom.  To  large  sleeves  themselves  there  is  no 
objection,  in  a  pictorial  point  of  view,  provided 
that  their  point  of  junction  with  the  shoulder  is 
so  conspicuous  that  they  do  not  add  to  the  ap- 
parent width  of  the  body  .in  this  part.  The  lines 


62  THE     DRESS. 

of  the  sleeves  should  be  flowing ;  and  they  are  much 
more  graceful  when  they  are  widest  in  the  lower 
part,  especially  when  so  open  as  to  display  to  ad- 
vantage the  beautiful  form  of  the  wrist  and  fore- 
arm. In  this  way,  they  partake  of  the  pyramid, 
while  the  inelegant  gigot  sleeve,  which  for  so  long 
a  period  enjoyed  the  favor  of  the  ladies,  presents 
the  form  of  a  cone  reverted,  and  is  obviously  out 
of  place  in  the  human  figure.  When  the  large 
sleeve,  supported  by  canes  or  whalebones,  forms  a 
continuous  line  with  the  shoulder,  it  gives  an  un- 
natural width  to  this  part  of  the  figure  —  an  effect 
that  is  increased  by  the  large  collar  which  conceals 
the  point  where  the  sleeve  meets  the  dress.  Ex- 
amples of  the  large,  open  sleeve,  in  its  extreme 
character,  may  be  studied  with  most  advantage 
in  the  portraits  of  Yandyck.  Fig.  60,  Lady  Lucy 
Percy,  after  Yandyck.  The  effect  of  these  sleeves 
is  frequently  improved  by  their  being  lined  with 
a  different  color,  and  sometimes  by  contrasting 
the  rich  silk  of  the  outer  sleeve  with  the  thin 
gauze  or  lace  which  forms  the  immediate  cov- 


THE     DRESS.  DO 

ering  of  the  arm.  The  figures  in  the  plates  will 
show  the  comparative  gracefulness  of  two  kinds 
of  large  sleeves,  namely,  that  which  is  widest  at  the 
top,  and  that  which  is  widest  below.  If  the  outline 
of  the  central  figure  of  our  more  modern  group, 
(Fig.  61,) — consisting  of  three  figures,  which  is 
copied  from  a  French  work, — were  filled  up  with 
black,  a  person  ignorant  of  the  fashion  might,  from 
the  great  width  of  the  shoulders,  have  mistaken  it 
for  the  Farnese  Hercules  in  petticoats. 

The  large  sleeves,  tight  in  the  upper  part,  and 
enlarging  gradually  to  the  wrist,  which  are  worn  by 
the  modern  Greeks,  are  extremely  graceful.  When 
these  are  confined  below  the  elbow,  which  is  some- 
times done  for  convenience,  they  resemble  somewhat 
the  elbow  sleeves  with  wide  ruffles  which  were  so 
common  in  the  time  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  Sleeves 
like  those  now  worn  in  Greece  were  fashionable  in 
France  in  the  tenth  century,  and  again  about  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  They  were  also 
worn  by  Jeanne  d'Albret,  the  mother  of  Henry  IV., 
and  are  seen  in  Fig.  41. 


64  THE     DRESS. 


A  very  elegant  sleeve,  fitting  nearly  close  at  the 
shoulder,  and  becoming  very  full  and  long  till  it 
falls  in  graceful  folds  almost  to  the  feet,  prevailed 
in  England  during  the  time  of  Henry  V.  and  VI. 
Fig.  62,  copied  from  a  manuscript  of  the  time  of 
Henry  V.,  now  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 
On  the  authority  of  Professor  Heideloff,  it  is  said 
to  have  existed  also  in  Flanders  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  in  France  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  In  the  examples  of  continental 
costume,  the  tout  ensemble  is  graceful,  and  especially 
the  head-dress ;  while  in  England  the  elegant 
sleeve  is  accompanied  with  very  short  waists, 
and  with  the  hideous,  horned  head-dresses  then 
fashionable.  The  effect  of  these  sleeves  much  re- 
sembles that  of  the  mantles  of  the  present  day, 
and  from  its  wide  flow  is  only  adapted  for  full 
dress,  or  out-of-door  costume.  The  sleeves  worn 
under  these  full  ones  were  generally  tight.  At  a 
much  later  period,  the  large  sleeves  were  made  of 
more  moderate  dimensions,  both  in  length  and 
width,  and  a  full  sleeve  of  fine  lawn  or  muslin, 


THE     DRESS.  65 


fastened  at  the  wrist  with  a  band,  and  edged  with 
a  lace  ruffle,  was  worn  beneath.  This  kind  of 
sleeve  has  recently  been  again  introduced  xinto 
England,  but  has  given  place  to  another  form,  in 
which  the  under  sleeve  of  lace  or  muslin,  being 
of  the  same  size  as  the  upper,  suffers  the  lower 
part  of  the  arm  to  be  visible.  The  effect  of  this 
sleeve,  which  is  certainly  becoming  to  a  finely- 
formed  arm,  is  analogous  to  that  of  the  elbow 
sleeve,  which,  with  its  deep  ruffles  of  point  lace, 
is  frequent  on  the  portraits  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 

The  slashed  sleeve,  criticized  by  Shakspeare  in 
the  "  Taming  of  the  Shrew,"  was  sometimes  very 
elegant.  The  form  in  which  it  appears  in  Fig.  63, 
worn  in  the  fifteenth  century,  is  particularly  grace- 
ful. Not  so,  however,  the  lower  part  of  the  sleeve. 

In  the  preceding  remarks,  we  have  considered 
the  sleeve  merely  in  a  picturesque  point  of  view, 
without  reference  to  its  convenience  or  incon- 
venience. 

The  length  of  the  waist  has  always  been  a  mat- 
ter of  caprice.  Sometimes  the  girdle  was  placed 


66  THE     DRESS. 


nearly  under  the  arms ;  sometimes  it  passed  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  and  was  suffered  to  fall  upon  the 
hips.  Sometimes  it  was  drawn  tightly  round  the 
middle,  when  it  seemed  to  cut  the  body  almost  in 
two,  like  an  hourglass.  Judging  from  what  we  see, 
we  should  say  that  this  is  a  feat  which  many  ladies 
of  the  present  time  are  endeavoring  to  achieve. 
The  first  and  third  cases  are  almost  equally  ob- 
jectionable, because  they  distort  the  figure.  The 
hip  girdle,  which  is  common  in  Greece  (as  shown 
in  Figs.  48  and  53)  and  Oriental  countries,  pre- 
vailed also  in  England  and  France  some  centuries 
ago.  The  miniatures  of  old  manuscripts  furnish 
us  with  examples  of  long-waisted  dresses  fitting 
closely  to  the  person,  sometimes  stiffened  like  the 
modern  stays,  at  others  yielding  to  the  figure. 
The  waist  of  this  kind  of  dress  reached  to  the 
hips,  where  it  was  joined  to  the  full  petticoat, 
which  was  gathered  round  the  top  —  an  extremely, 
ungraceful  fashion.  The  hip  girdle,  properly  used, 
is,  however,  by  no  means  inelegant.  It  is  not  at 
all  necessary  that  it  should  coincide  with  the  waist 


THE     DRESS.  67 


of  the  dress ;  it  should  be  merely  looped  or  clasped 
loosely  round  the  figure,  and  suffered  to  fall  to  its 
place  by  its  own  weight.  But  to  enable  it  to  do 
so  in  a  graceful  manner,  it  is  essential  that  the 
skirt  of  the  dress  should  be  so  united  with  the 
body  as  to  produce  no  harsh  lines  of  separation, 
or  sudden  changes  of  curvature;  as,  for  example, 
when  the  skirt  is  set  on  in  full  plaits,  or  gathers, 
and  spread  over  a  hoop.  We  have  before  noticed, 
that  this  point  was  attended  to  by  Rubens,  (Fig. 
66,)  by  Yandyck,  (Fig.  65,)  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
and  by  the  modem  Greeks.  We  refer  also  to  the 
elegant  figure  64.  The  most  natural  situation  for 
the  girdle,  or  point  of  junction  of  the  body  with 
the  skirt,  is  somewhere  between  the  end  of  the 
breast  bone  and  the  last  rib,  as  seen"  in  front  — 
a  space  of  about  three  or  four  inches.  Fashion 
may  dictate  the  exact  spot,  but  within  this  space 
it  cannot  be  positively  wrong.  The  effect  is  good 
when  the  whole  space  is  filled  with  a  wide  sash 
folded  round  the  waist,  as  in  Sir  C.  Eastlake's 
11  Greek  Girl,"  or  some  of  the  graceful  portraits  by 


00  THE     DRESS. 

Sir  Joshua  Keynolds.  How  much  more  elegant  is 
a  sash  of  this  description  than  the  stiff  line  which 
characterizes  the  upper  part  of  the  dress  of  "  Sancta 
Victoria."  (Fig.  64.)  The  whalebone,  or  busk,  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  keep  the  dress  in  its  proper 
place.  The  resemblance  in  form  between  the  body 
of  the  dress  of  this  figure  and  those  now  or  recently 
in  fashion  cannot  fail  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
reader.  Stiff,  though,  as  it  undoubtedly  is,  the  whole 
dress  is  superior  to  the  modern  in  the  general  flow 
of  the  lines  uniting  the  body  and  skirt.  Long 
skirts  are  more  graceful  than  short  ones,  and  a 
train  of  moderate  length  adds  to  the  elegance  of 
a  dress,  but  not  to  its  convenience.  Long  dresses, 
also,  add  to  the  apparent  height  of  a  figure,  and 
for  this  reason  they  are  well  adapted  to  short  per- 
sons. For  the  same  reason,  waists  of  moderate 
length  are  more  generally  becoming  than  those  that 
are  very  long,  because  the  latter,  by  shortening  the 
skirt  of  the  dress,  dimmish  the  apparent  height. 
Besides  the  variation  in  length,  the  skirts  of 
dresses  have  passed  through  every  gradation  of 


,  THE     DRESS.  O^ 

fulness.  At  one  time,  it  was  the  fashion  to  slope 
gradually  from  the  waist,  without  gathers  or  plaits ; 
then  a  little  fulness  was  admitted  at  the  back; 
then  a  little  at  the  front,  also.  The  next  step 
was  to  carry  the  fulness  all  round  the  waist.  In 
the  graceful  costume  of  the  time  of  Vandyck,  and 
even  in  the  more  stiff  and  formal  dress  delineated 
in  the  pictures  of  Rubens,  the  skirt  was  united  to 
the  body  by  large,  flat  plaits,  when  the  fulness 
expanded  gradually  and  gracefully,  and  the  rich 
material  of  the  dress  spread  in  well-arranged  folds 
to  the  feet.  The  lines  were  gently  undulating  and 
graceful,  and  that  unnatural  and  clumsy  contrivance 
called  a  "bustle"  —  a  near  relation  of  the  hoop 
and  fardingale  —  was  at  that  time  happily  un- 
known. This  principle  of  uniting  the  skirt  grad- 
ually with  the  body  of  the  dress  is  carried  out  to 
the  fullest  extent  by  the  modern  Greeks.  In  the 
figure  of  the  peasant  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Athens,  (Fig.  47,)  the  pelisse  is  made  without  gath- 
ers or  plaits :  the  skirt,  which  hangs  full  round  the 
knees,  is  "gored"  or  sloped  away  till  it  fits  the 


70  THE     DBESS. 


body  at  the  waist.  The  long  underskirt  is,  as  we 
find  from  the  figure  of  the  woman  of  Makrinitza, 
(Fig.  67,)  gathered  several  times,  so  as  to  lie  flat 
to  the  figure,  instead  of  being  spread  over  the 
inelegant  "bustle."  It  is  only  necessary  to  com- 
pare these  graceful  figures,  in  which  due  regard 
has  been  paid  to  the  undulating  lines  of  the  fig- 
ure, with  a  fashionable  lady  of  the  present  day, 
whose  "  polka  jacket,"  or  whatever  may.  be  the 
name  of  this  article  of  dress,  is  cut  with  vio- 
lent and  deep  curves,  to  enable  it  to  spread 
itself  over  the  bustle  and  prominent  folds  of  the 
dress. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  bustle  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  skirt,  some  ladies  of  the  present  day  have 
returned  to  the  old  practice  of  wearing  hoops,  to 
make  the  dresses  stand  out  at  the  base.  These 
are  easily  recognized  in  the  street  by  the  "  swag- 
ging "  — no  other  term  will  exactly  convey  the 
idea  —  from  side  to  side  of  the  hoops,  an  effect 
which  is  distinctly  visible  as  the  wearer  walks 
along.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  there  is  so 


THE     DRESS.  71 


attractive  in  the  fardingale  and  hoop,  that  they 
should  have  prevailed,  in  some  form  or  other,  for 
so  many  years,  and  that  they  should  have  main- 
tained their  ground  in  spite  of  the  cutting,  though 
playful,  raillery  of  the  "  Spectator,"  and  the  jeers 
and  caricatures  of  less  refined  censors  of  the  ec- 
centricities of  dress.  They  were  not  recommended 
either  by  beauty  of  line  or  convenience,  but  by  the 
tyrant  Fashion,  and  we  owe  some  gratitude  to 
George  IV.,  who  banished  the  last  relics  of  this 
singular  fashion  from  the  court  dress,  of  which, 
until  his  time,  it  continued  to  form  a  part.  Who 
could  imagine  that  there  would  be  an  attempt  to 
revive  the  hoop  .petticoat  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury ?  We  invite  our  readers  to  contrast  the  lines 
of  the  drapery  in  the  figures  after  Vandyck, 
(Figs.  60  and  61,)  and  those  in  the  modern  Greek 
costume,  (Figs.  51  and  54,)  with  that  of  a  lady 
in  a  hoop,  after  a  satirical  painter,  Hogarth,  (Fig. 
68,)  and  two  figures  from  a  design  by  Jules  David, 
in  "Le  Moniteur  de  la  Mode,"  a  modem  fash- 
ionable authority  in  dress.  (Figs.  69  and  70.) 


72  THE     DRESS. 


There  can  be  no  doubt  which  is  the  most  grace- 
ful. The  width  of  the  shoulders  and  the  tight 
waist  of  the  latter,  will  not  escape  the  notice  of 
our  readers. 


THEFEET.  73 


CHAPTEK    V. 

THE  FEET. 

HE  same  bad  taste  which  insists 
upon  a  small  waist,  let  the  height 
and  proportions  of  the  figure  be  what 
they  will,  decrees  that  a  small  foot 
is  essential  to  beauty. 
Size  is  considered  of  more  importance  than  form ; 
and  justly  so  if  it  is  a  sine  qua  non  that  the  foot 
must  be  small,  because  the  efforts  that  are  made  to 
diminish  its  size  generally  render  it  deformed.  We 
have  before  mentioned  that  to  endeavor  to  diminish 
the  size  of  the  human  body  in  a  particular  part, 
is  like  tying  a  string  round  the  middle  of  a  pillow ; 
it  only  makes  it  larger  at  the  extremities.  It  is 
so  with  the  waist,  it  is  so  with  the  foot.  If  it  be 
crippled  in  length,  or  in  width  across  the  toes,  it 

spreads  over  the  instep   and  sides.     The  Italians 
10 


74  THE    FEET. 


and  other  nations  of  the  south  of  Europe  have 
smaller  hands  and  feet  than  the  Anglo-Saxons ;  and 
as  this  fact  is  generally  known,  it  is  astonishing 
that  people  of  sense  should  persist  in  crippling 
themselves  merely  for  the  reputation  of  having  small 
feet.  Here  again  we  have  to  complain  of  poets  and 
romance  writers ;  ladies  would  not  have  pinched 
their  feet  into  small  shoes,  if  these  worthies  had 
not  sung  the  praises  of  "  tiny  feet." 

"Her  feet,  beneath  her  petticoat, 
Like  little  mice,  stole  in  and  out, 
As  if  they  feared  the  light." 

Nor  are  painters  —  portrait  painters,  we  mean, 
and  living  ones  too — it  is  needless  however,  to  men- 
tion names — entirely  free  from  blame  for  thus 
ministering  to  vanity  and  false  taste.  They  have 
sacrificed  truth  to  fashion  in  painting  the  feet 
smaller  than  they  could  possibly  be  in  nature. 

But  it  is  not  only  with  the  endeavor  to  cripple  their 
dimensions  that  we  are  inclined  to  quarrel.  We 
object  in  toto  to  the  shape  of  the  shoe,  which  bears 
but  little  resemblance  to  that  of  the  foot.  We  have 


THE     FEET.  75 


heard  persons  say  that  they  could  never  see  any 
beauty  in  a  foot.  No  wonder,  when  they  saw  none 
but  those  that  were  deformed  by  corns  and  bunions. 
How  unlike  is  such  a  foot  to  the  beautiful  little  — 
for  little  it  really  is  in  this  case — fat  foot  of  a  child, 
before  its  beauty  has  been  spoiled  by  shoes,  or  even 
to  those  of  the  barefooted  children  one  sees  so  fre- 
quently in  the  street.  Were  it  not  for  these  oppor- 
tunities of  seeing  nature  we,  in  this  country,  should 
have  but  little  idea  of  the  true  shape  of  the  human 
foot,  except  what  we  learn  from  statues.  According 
to  a  recent  traveller,  we  must  go  to  Egypt  to  see 
beautiful  feet.  It  is  impossible,  he  says,  to  see  any 
thing  more  exquisite  than  the  feet  and  hands  of 
the  female  peasants.  The  same  beauty  is  conspicu- 
ous in  the  Hindoo  women. 

Let  us  compare  now  the  shape  of  the  foot  with 
that  of  the  sole  of  a  shoe.  When  the  foot  is  placed 
on  the  ground,  the  toes  spread  out,  the  great  toe  is 
in  a  straight  line  with  the  inner  side  of  the  foot, 
and  there  is  an  opening  between  this  and  the 
second  toe.  The  ancients  availed  themselves  of 


76  THE     FEET. 


this  opening  to  pass  through  it  one  of  the  straps 
that  suspended  the  sandal. 

The  moderns  on  the  contrary  press  the  toes  closely 
together,  in  order  to  confine  them  within  the  limits 
of  the  shoe ;  the  consequence  is,  that  the  end  of  the 
great  toe  is  pressed  towards  the  others,  and  out  of 
the  straight  line,  the  joint  becomes  enlarged,  and 
thus  the  foundation  is  laid  for  a  bunion ;  while  the 
toes,  forced  one  upon  another,  become  distorted 
and  covered  with  corns. 

One  of  the  consequences  of  this  imprisonment 
of  our  toes  is,  that,  from  being  squeezed  so  closely 
together,  they  become  useless.  Let  any  one  try  the 
experiment  of  walking  barefooted  across  the  room, 
and  while  so  doing  look  at  the  foot.  The  toes,  when 
unfettered  by  the  shoes,  spread  out  and  divide  from 
one  another,  and  the  body  rests  on  a  wider  and 
firmer  base.  We  begin  to  find  we  have  some  move- 
ment in  our  toes ;  yet,  how  feeble  is  their  muscular 
power,  compared  with  that  of  persons  who  are  unac- 
customed to  the  use  of  shoes! 

The  Hindoo  uses  his  toes  in  weaving;   the  Aus- 


THE     FEET.  77 


tralian  savage  is  as  handy  (if  the  term  can  be 
applied  to  feet)  with  this  member,  as  another  man 
is  with  his  hands ;  it  is  the  unsuspected  instrument 
with  which  he  executes  his  thefts.  The  country 
boy,  who  runs  over  the  roof  of  a  house  like  a  cat, 
takes  off  his  shoes  before  he  attempts  the  hazardous 
experiment ;  he  has  a  surer  hold  with  his  foot  on 
the  smooth  slates  and  sloping  roof.  The  exercise  of 
the  muscles  of  the  foot  has  the  effect  of  increasing 
the  power  of  those  of  the  calf  of  the  leg ;  and  the 
thinner  the  sole,  and  the  more  pliant  the  materials 
of  which  the  shoe  is  made,  the  more  the  power 
is  developed. 

Dancing  masters,  who  habitually  wear  thin  shoes, 
have  the  muscles  of  the  leg  well  developed,  while 
ploughmen,  who  wear  shoes  with  soles  an  inch 
thick,  have  very  little  calf  to  their  leg.  The  French 
sabot  is,  we  consider,  better  than  the  closely  fitting 
shoe  of  our  country  people ;  because  it  is  so  large, 
that  it  requires  some  muscular  exertion  to  keep  it 
in  its  place.  We  have  frequently  seen  French  boys 
running  in  sabots,  the  foot  rising  at  every  step 


78  THE     FEET. 


almost  out  of  the  unyielding  wooden  shoe.  Wooden 
clogs  and  pattens  are  as  bad  as  the  thick  shoes  of 
the  country  people.  When  clogs  are  necessary,  the 
sole  should  be  made  of  materials  which  will  yield 
to  the  motion  of  the  foot.  The  American  Indian's 
moccasins  are  a  much  better  covering  for  the  foot 
than  our  shoes. 

If  thick  soles  are  objectionable  by  impeding  the 
free  movement  of  the  limb,  what  shall  we  say  to  the 
high  heel  which  was  once  so  popular,  and  which 
threatens  again  to  come  into  fashion  ?  It  is  to  be 
hoped,  however,  when  the  effects  of  wearing  high 
heels  are  duly  considered,  that  this  pernicious  cus- 
tom will  not  make  progress.  It  is  well  for  their 
poor  unfortunate  votaries,  that  the  introduction  of 
certain  fashions  is  gradual;  that  both  mind  and 
body — perhaps  we  should  be  more  correct  in  saying 
the  person  of  the  wearer  and  the  eye  of  the  specta- 
tor— are,  step  by  step,  prepared  for  the  extreme  point 
which  certain  fashions  attain ;  they  have  their  rise, 
their  culminating  point,  and  their  decline.  The 
attempt  to  exchange  the  short  waists,  worn  some 


THE     FEET.  79 


thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  for  the  very  long  waists 
seen  during  the  past  year,  would  have  been  unsuc- 
cessful ;  the  transition  would  have  been  too  great  — 
too  violent ;  the  change  was  effected,  but  it  was  the 
work  of  many  years.  The  same  thing  took  place 
with  regard  to  the  high  head-dresses  which  were 
so  deservedly  ridiculed  by  Addison,  and  in  an  equal- 
ly marked  degree  with  respect  to  high  heels.  The 
shoes  in  the  cut,  after  Gainsborough,  (Fig.  71,)  are 
fair  specimens  of  what  were  in  fashion  in  his  time. 
Let  the  reader  compare  the  line  of  the  sole  with 
that  of  the  human  foot  placed,  as  nature  intended  it, 
flat  on  the  ground.  The  heel  was  in  some  cases 
four  and  a  half  inches  high;  the  line,  therefore, 
must  have  been  in  this  case,  a  highly  inclined  plane, 
undulating  in  its  surface,  like  the  "  line  of  beauty" 
of  Hogarth.  The  position  of  the  foot  is  that  of  a 
dancer  resting  on  the  toes,  excepting  that  the  heel 
is  supported,  and  the  strain  over  the  instep  and 
contraction  of  the  muscles  of  the  back  of  the  leg 
and  heel  must  be  considerable ;  so  much  so  we  are 
told,  that  the  contraction  of  the  latter  becomes 


80  THE     FEET. 


habitual;  consequently,  those  persons  who  have  ac- 
'customed  themselves  to  the  use  of  high  heels,  are 
never  afterwards  able  to  do  without  them.  It  is  said 
that  "  pride  never  feels  pain ;  "  we  should  think  the 
proverb  was  made  for  those  who  wear  high  heels, 
for  we  are  told,  although  we  cannot  speak  from  per- 
sonal experience,  that  the  pain  on  first  wearing 
shoes  of  this  kind,  in  which  the  whole  weight  of  the 
body  seems  to  thrust  the  toes  forward  into  the  shoe, 
is  excruciating ;  nothing  but  fashion  could  reconcile 
one  to  such  voluntary  suffering.  The  peas  in  the 
shoes  of  the  pilgrims  could  scarcely  be  more  painful. 

It  was  with  some  surprise  that  we  found  among 
M.  Stackelberg's  graceful  costumes  of  modern  Greece 
a  pair  of  high-heeled  shoes,  (Fig.  72,)  which  might 
rival  in  ugliness  and  inconvenience  any  of  those 
worn  in  England. 

We  have  known  an  instance  where  the  lady's  heels 
were  never  less  than  an  inch  and  a  half  high.  "We 
were  sorry  to  observe  some  of  these  high-heeled  shoes 
in  the  great  exhibition,  and  still  more  so,  to  see 
that  shoes  with  heels  an  inch  high  are  likely  to  be 


THEFEET.  81 


fashionable  this  season.  Could  we  look  forward  to 
this  height  as  the  limit  of  the  fashion,  we  might  rec- 
oncile ourselves  to  it  for  a  time;  but,  judging  from 
past  experience,  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  the  heel 
will  become  continually  higher,  until  it  attains  the 
elevation  of  former  years.  Not  content  with  im- 
prisoning our  feet  in  tight  shoes,  and  thereby  dis- 
torting their  form  and  weakening  their  muscular 
power,  we  are  guilty  of  another  violence  towards 
nature.  Nature  has  made  our  toes  to  turn  inwards ; 
when  man  is  left  to  himself  the  toes  naturally  take 
this  direction,  though  in  a  much  less  degree  than  in 
the  infant.  The  American  Indian  will  trace  a  Euro- 
pean by  his  footprints,  which  he  detects  by  the  turn- 
ing out  of  the  toes ;  a  lesson  we  are  taught  in  our 
childhood,  and  especially  by  our  dancing  master. 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  used  to  say,  "  The  gestures  of 
children,  being  all  dictated  by  nature,  are  graceful ; 
affectation  and  distortion  come  in  with  the  dancing 
master."  Now,  observe  the  consequence  of  turning 
out  the  toes.  The  inner  ankle  is  bent  downwards 

towards  the  ground,  and  the  knees  are  drawn  in- 

11 


82  THE    FEET. 


wards,  producing  the  deformity  called  knock-kneed ; 
thus  the  whole  limb  is  distorted,  and  consequently 
weakened ;  there  is  always  a  want  of  muscular 
power  in  the  legs  of  those  who  turn  their  toes  very 
much  outwards.  It  must  be  remarked,  however, 
that  women,  from  the  greater  breadth  of  the  frame 
at  the  hips,  naturally  turn  the  toes  out  more  than 
men.  In  this  point  also,  statues  may  be  studied 
with  advantage.  Where  form  only  is  considered,  it 
is  generally  safer  to  refer  to  examples  of  sculpture 
than  painting;  because  in  the  latter,  the  artist  is 
apt  to  lose  sight  of  this  primary  object  in  his  atten- 
tion to  color  and  form ;  besides,  it  is  the  sculptor 
only,  who  makes  an  exact  image  of  a  figure  which 
is  equally  perfect,  seen  from  all  points  of  view. 
The  painter  makes  only  a  pictorial  or  perspective 
representation  of  nature,  as  seen  from  one  point  of 
view  only. 

What  pains  we  take  to  distort  and  disfigure  the 
beautiful  form  that  nature  has  bestowed  upon  the 
human  race !  Now  building  a  tower  on  the  head, 
then  raising  the  heel  at  the  expense  of  the  toe ;  at 


THE     FEET.  83 


one  time  confining  the  body  in  a  case  of  whalebone, 
and  compressing  it  at  the  waist  like  an  hour  glass ; 
at  another,  surrounding  it  with  the  enormous  and 
ungraceful  hoop,  till  the  outline  of  the  figure  is  so 
altered,  that  a  person  can  scarcely  recognize  her  own 
shadow  as  that  of  a  human  being. 


84      REMARKS     ON      PARTICULAR      COSTUMES. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

REMAKKS   ON   PARTICULAR    COSTUMES. 

E  must  now  offer  a  few  brief  remarks 
upon  certain  costumes  which  appear 
to  us  most  worthy  of  our  attention  and 
study,  for  their  general  elegance  and 
adaptation  to  the  figure. 
Of  the  modern  Greek  we  have  already  spoken. 
The  style  of  dress  which  has  been  immortalized  by 
the  pencil  of  Vandyck  is  considered  among  the  most 
elegant  that  has  ever  prevailed  in  this  country.  It 
is  not,  however,  faultless.  The  row  of  small  curls 
around  the  face,  however  becoming  to  some  persons, 
is  somewhat  formal;  and  although  the  general  ar- 
rangement of  the  hair,  which  preserves  the  natural 
size  and  shape  of  the  head,  is  more  graceful  than 
that  of  the  time  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  we  think  it 
would  have  been  more  pleasing  had  it  left  visible 


REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR     COSTUMES.       85 


the  line  which  divides  the  hair  from  the  forehead. 
With  regard  to  the  dress  itself,  it  is  apparent,  in  the 
first  place,  tljat  the  figures  are  spoiled  by  stays ; 
secondly,  that  the  dress  is  cut  too  low  in  front ;  and 
thirdly,  that  the  large  sleeves  sometimes  give  too 
great  width  in  front  to  the  shoulders.  These  defects 
are,  in  some  degree,  counterbalanced  by  the  graceful 
flow  of  the  ample  drapery,  and  of  the  large  sleeves, 
which  are  frequently  widest  at  their  lower  part,  and 
by  the  gently  undulating  line  which  unites  the 
waist  of  the  dress  with  the  skirt.  The  Vandyck 
dress,  with  its  voluminous  folds,  is,  however,  more  ap- 
propriate to  the  inhabitants  of  palaces,  than  to  the 
ordinary  occupants  of  this  working-day  world.  The 
drapery  is  too  wide  and  flowing  for  convenience. 
The  annexed  cut,  (Fig.  73,)  representing  Charlotte 
de  la  Tremouille,  the  celebrated  Countess  of  Derby, 
exhibits  some  of  the  defects  and  many  of  the  beau-- 
ties of  the  Yandyck  dress. 

Lely's  half-dressed  figures  may  be  passed  over 
without  comment ;  they  are  draped,  not  dressed. 
Kneller's  are  more  instructive  on  the  subject  of 


86      REMARKS     ON      PARTICULAR     COSTUMES. 


costume.  The  dress  of  Queen  Anne,  (Fig.  74,)  in 
Kneller's  portrait,  is  graceful  and  easy.  The  cos- 
tume is  a  kind  of  transition  between  ,the  Vandyck 
and  Reynolds  style.  The  sleeves  are  smaller  at  the 
shoulder  than  in  the  former,  and  larger  at  the  lower 
part  than  in  the  latter ;  in  fact,  they  resemble  those 
now  worn  by  the  modern  Greeks.  The  dress  is  cut 
higher  round  the  bust,  and  is  longer  in  the  waist 
than  the  Yandycks,  while  the  undulating  line 
uniting  the  body  and  skirt  is  still  preserved.  While 
such  good  examples  were  set  by  the  painters — who 
were  not,  however,  the  inventors  of  the  fashions 
they  painted  —  it  is  astonishing  that  these  graceful 
styles  of  dress  should  have  been  superseded  in  real 
life  by  the  lofty  head-dresses  and  preposterous 
fashions  which  prevailed  during  the  same  period 
and  long  afterwards,  and  which  even  the  ironical 
and  severe  remarks  of  Addison,  in  the  "  Spectator," 
were  unable  to  banish  from  the  circles  of  fashion. 

Speaking  of  the  dresses  of  ladies  during  the  reigns 
of  James  II.  and  William  III.,  Mr.  Planche,  in  his 
"  History  of  British  Costumes,"  says,  "  The  tower  or 


REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR      COSTUMES.       87 


commode  was  still  worn,  and  the  gowns  and  petti- 
coats flounced  and  furbelowed,  so  that  every  part  of 
the  garment  was  in  curl ;  "  and  a  lady  of  fashion 
"  looked  like  one  of  those  animals,"  says  the  "  Spec- 
tator," "  which  in  the  country  we  call  a  Friesland 
hen."  But  in  1711  we  find  Mr.  Addison  remark- 
ing, "  The  whole  sex  is  now  dwarfed  and  shrunk 
into  a  race  of  beauties  that  seems  almost  another 
species.  I  remember  several  ladies  who  were  once 
nearly  seven  foot  high,  that  at  present  want  some 
inches  of  five.  How  they  come  to  be  thus  curtailed 
I  cannot  learn ;  whether  the  whole  sex  be  at  present 
under  any  penance  which  we  know  nothing  of,  or 
whether  they  have  cast  their  head-dresses  in  order 
to  surprise  us  with  something  in  that  kind  which 
shall  be  entirely  new :  though  I  find  most  are  of 
opinion  they  are  at  present  like  trees  lopped  and 
pruned,  that  will  certainly  sprout  up  and  flourish 
with  greater  heads  than  before." 

The  costume  of  the  time  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
as  treated  by  this  great  artist,  though  less  splendid, 
appears  to  us,  with  the  exception  of  the  head-dress, 


88      REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR      COSTUMES. 


nearly  as  graceful,  and  far  more  convenient  than 
the  Vandyck  dress.  It  is  more  modest,  more  easy, 
and  better  adapted  to  show  the  true  form  of  the 
shoulders,  while  the  union  of  the  body  of  the  dress 
with  the  skirt  is  effected  in  the  same  graceful  man- 
ner as  in  the  Vandyck  portraits.  The  materials 
of  the  drapery  in  the  latter  is  generally  silks  and 
satins;  of  the  former,  it  is  frequently  muslin  and 
stuff  of  a  soft  texture,  which  clings  more  closely 
to  the  form.  That  much  of  the  elegance  of  both 
styles  of  dress  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  skill  and 
good  taste  of  the  painters,  is  evident  from  an  exam- 
ination of  portraits  by  contemporary  artists.  Much 
also  may  be  ascribed  to  the  taste  of  the  wearer. 

There  are  some  people  who,  though  habited  in  the 
best  and  richest  clothes,  never  appear  well  dressed  ; 
their  garments,  rumpled  and  untidy,  look  as  if  they 
had  been  pitched  on  them,  like  hay,  with  a  fork ; 
while  others,  whose  dress  consists  of  the  most  home- 
ly materials,  appear  well  dressed,  from  the  neatness 
and  taste  with  which  their  clothes  are  arranged. 

Many  of  the  costumes  of  Gainsborough's  portraits 


REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR     COSTUMES. 


are  elegant  and  graceful,  with  the  frequent  excep- 
tion of  the  extravagant  head-dress  and  the  high- 
heeled  shoes.  The  easy  and  very  pleasing  figure, 
(Fig.  75,)  after  this  accomplished  artist,  is  not 
exempt  from  the  above  defects. 

In  our  next  illustration,  (Fig.  76,)  Gainsborough 
has  not  been  so  happy.  The  lady  is  almost. lost  in 
her  voluminous  and  fluttering  drapery,  and  the  dis- 
hevelled hair  and  the  enormous  hat  give  to  the 
figure  much  of  the  appearance  of  a  caricature. 

Leaving  now  the  caprices  of  fashion,  we  must 
notice  a  class  of  persons  who,  from  a  religious  mo- 
tive, have  resisted  for  two  hundred  years  the  tyran- 
ny of  fashion,  and,  until  recently,  have  transmitted 
the  same  form  of  dress  from  mother  to  daughter  for 
nearly  the  same  period  of  years.  The  ladies  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  or,  as  they  are  usually  called, 
"  Quakers,"  are  still  distinguished  by  the  simplicity 
and  neatness  of  their  dress  —  the  quiet  drabs  and 
browns  of  which  frequently  contrast  with  the  rich- 
ness of  the  material  —  and  by  the  absence  of  all 

ornament  and  frippery.     Every  part  of  their  dress 
12 


90      REMARKS     ON      PARTICULAR      COSTUMES. 


is  useful  and  convenient;  it  has  neither  frills,  nor 
flounces,  nor  trimmings  to  carry  the  dirt  and  get 
shabby  before  the  dress  itself,  nor  wide  sleeves  to 
dip  in  the  plates  and  lap  up  the  gravy  vand  sauces, 
nor  artificial  flowers,  nor  bows  of  ribbons.  The  dress 
is  long  enough  for  decency,  but  not  so  long  as  to 
sweep  the  streetsrasx  many  dresses  and  shawls  are 
daily  seen  to  do.  Some  few  years  back  the  Quaker 
ladies  might  have  been  reproached  with  adhering  to 
the  letter,  while  they  rejected  the  spirit,  of  their  code 
of  dress  by  adhering  too  literally  to  the  costume 
handed  down  to  them.  The  crowns  of  their  caps 
were  formerly  made  very  high,  and  for  this  reason 
it  was  necessary  that  the  crowns  of  their  bonnets 
should  be  high  enough  to  admit  the  cap  crown ; 
hence  the  peculiarly  ugly  and  remarkable  form  of 
this  part  of  the  dress.  The  crown  of  the  cap  has, 
however,  recently  been  lowered,  and  the  Quaker 
ladies,  with  much  good  sense,  have  not  only  modi- 
fied the  form  of  their  bonnets,  but  have  also  adopt- 
ed the  straw  and  drawn  silk  bonnet  in  their  most 
simple  forms.  In  the  style  of  their  dress,  also,  they 


REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR      COSTUMES.       91 


occasionally  approach  so  near  the  fashions  generally 
worn,  that  they  are  no  longer  distinguishable  by 
the  singularity  of  their  dress,  but  by  its  simplicity 
and  chasteness. 

We  venture  now  to  devote  a  few  words  to  the 
Bloomer  costume,  (Fig.  77,)  although  we  are  aware 
that  we  are  treading  on  tender  ground,  especially  as 
the  costume  involves  a  sudden  and  complete  change 
in  the  dress.  Independently  of  its  merits  or  de* 
merits,  there  are  several  reasons  why  it  did  not 
succeed  in  this  country.  In  the  first  place,  as  we 
have  before  observed,  it  originated  in  America,  and 
was  attempted  to  be  introduced  through  the  middle 
ranks.  In  the  second  place,  the  change  which  it 
endeavored  to  effect  was  too  sudden.  Had  the 
alteration  commenced  with  the  higher  classes,  and 
the  change  been  effected  gradually,  its  success  might 
possibly  have  been  different.  Thirdly,  the  large 
hat,  so  well  adapted  to  the  burning  sun  of  America, 
was  unnecessary,  and  remarkable  when  forming  a 
part  of  the  costume  of  adult  ladies  in  this  country, 
although  we  have  seen  that  hats  quite  as  large  were 


92       REMARKS     ON      PARTICULAR     COSTUMES. 


worn  during  the  time  of  Gainsborough.  Another 
reason  for  the  ill  success  of  the  Bloomer  costume 
is  to  be  found  in  the  glaring  and  frequently  ill- 
assorted  colors  of  the  prints  of  it,  which  were  every 
where  exposed  in  the  shop  windows.  By  many 
sober-minded  persons,  the  large  hat  and  glaring 
colors  were  looked  upon  as  integral  parts  of  the 
costume.  The  numerous  caricatures  also,  and  the 
injudicious  attempts  to  make  it  popular  by  getting 
lip  "  Bloomer  Balls,"  contributed  to  render  the  cos- 
tume ridiculous  and  unpopular. 

Setting  aside  the  hat,  the  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  the  costume  are  the  short  dress,  and 
a  polka  jacket  fitting  the  body  at  the  throat  and 
shoulders,  and  confined  at  the  waist  by  a  silken 
sash,  and  the  trousers  fastened  by  a  band  round  the 
ankle,  and  finished  off  with  a  frill.  On  the  score  of 
modesty  there  can  be  no  objection  to  the  dress,  since 
the  whole  of  the  body  is  covered.  On  the  ground 
of  convenience  it  recommends  itself  to  those  who, 
having  the  superintendence  of  a  family,  are  obliged 
frequently  to  go  up  and  down  stairs,  on  which 


REMARKS      ON      PARTICULAR     COSTUMES.       93 


occasions  it  is  always  necessary  to  raise  the  dress 
before  or  behind,  according  to  circumstances.  The 
objection  to  the  trousers  is  not  to  this  article  of 
dress  being  worn,  since  that  is  a  general  practice, 
but  to  their  being  seen.  Yet  we  suspect  few  ladies 
would  object  on  this  account  to  appear  at  a  fancy 
ball  in  the  Turkish  costume. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  dress  are  its  novelty  — 
for  we  seldom  like  a  fashion  to  which  we  are  en- 
tirely unaccustomed  —  and  the  exposure  which  it 
involves  of  the  foot,  the  shape  of  which,  in  this 
country,  is  so  frequently  distorted  by  wearing  tight 
shoes  of  a  different  shape  from  the  foot.  The  short 
dress  is  objectionable  in  another  point  of  view, 
because,  as  short  petticoats  diminish  the  apparent 
height  of  the  person,  none  but  those  who  possess 
tall  and  elegant  figures  will  look  well  in  this  cos- 
tume ;  and  appearance  is  generally  suffered  to  pre- 
vail over  utility  and  convenience.  If  to  the  Bloomer 
costume  had  been  added  the  long  under-dress  of  the 
Greek  wromen,  or  had  the  trousers  been  as  full  as 
those  worn  by  the  Turkish  and  East  Indian  women, 


94       REMARKS      ON     PARTICULAR      COSTUMES. 


the  general  effect  of  the  dress  would  have  been  much 
more  elegant,  although  perhaps  less  useful.  Setting 
aside  all  considerations  of  fashion,  as  we  always  do 
in  looking  at  the  fashions  which  are  gone  by,  it  was 
impossible  for  any  person  to  deny  that  the  Bloomer 
costume  was  by  far  the  most  elegant,  the  most 
modest,  and  the  most  convenient. 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  95 


CHAPTER     VII. 

ORNAMENT  —  ECONOMY. 


although  not  an  integral 
part  of  dress,  is  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  it,  that  we  must  devote  a 
few  words  to  the  subject. 

Under  the  general  term  of  ornament 
we  shall  include  bows  of  ribbon,  artificial  flowers. 
feathers,  jewels,  lace,  fringes,  and  trimmings  of  all 
kinds.  Some  of  these  articles  appear  to  be  suited 
to  one  period  of  life,  some  to  another.  Jewels,  for 
instance,  though  suitable  for  middle  age,  seem  mis- 
placed on  youth,  which  should  always  be  character- 
ized by  simplicity  of  apparel  ;  while  flowers,  which 
are  so  peculiarly  adapted  to  youth,  are  unbecoming 
to  those  advanced  in  years  ;  in  the  latter  case  there 
is  contrast  without  harmony  ;  it  is  like  uniting  May 
with  December. 


96  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


The  great  principle  to  be  observed  with  regard 
to  ornament  is,  that  it  should  be  appropriate,  and 
appear  designed  to  answer  some  useful  purpose. 
A  brooch,  or  a  bow  of  ribbon,  for  instance,  should 
fasten  some  part  of  the  dress ;  a  gold  chain  should 
support  a  watch  or  an  eyeglass.  Trimmings  are 
useful  to  mark  the  borders  or  edges  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  dress ;  and  in  this  light  they  add  to 
the  variety,  while  by  their  repetition  they  conduce 
to  the  regularity  of  the  ornamentation. 

Ornament  is  so  much  a  matter  of  fashion,  that 
beyond  the  above  remarks  it  scarcely  conies  within 
the  scope  of  our  subject.  There  is  one  point,  how- 
ever, to  which  the  present  encouragement  of  works 
of  design  induces  us  to  draw  the  attention  of  our 
readers.  We  have  already  borrowed  from  the  beau- 
tiful work  of  M.  de  Stackelberg,  some  of  the  female 
figures  in  illustration  of  our  views  with  regard  to 
dress ;  we  have  now  to  call  the  attention  of  our 
readers  to  the  patterns  embroidered  on  the  dresses. 
These  are  mostly  of  classic  origin,  and  prove  that 
the  descendants  of  the  Greeks  have  still  sufficient 


OKNAMENT ECONOMY.  97 


good  taste  to,  appreciate  and  adopt  the  designs  of 
their  glorious  ancestors.  The  figures  in  the  plates 
being  too  small  to  show  the  patterns,  we  have  en- 
larged some  of  them  from  the  original  work,  in  order 
to  show  the  style  of  design  still  cultivated  among 
the  peasants  of  Greece,  and  also  because  we  think 
the  designs  may  be  applied  to  other  materials  be- 
sides dress.  Some  of  them  appear  not  inappro- 
priate to  iron  work.  When  will  our  people  be 
able  to  show  designs  of  such  elegance  ?  Fig.  78  is 
an  enlarged  copy  of  the  embroidery  on  the  robe  of 
the  peasant  from  the  environs  of  Athens,  (Fig.  49.) 
It  extends,  as  will  be  seen,  half  way  up  the  skirt. 
Fig.  79  is  from  the  sleeve  of  the  same  dress.  Fig. 
80  is  the  pattern  embroidered  on  the  sleeve  of  the 
pelisse.  Fig.  81  is  the  pattern  from  the  waist  to 
the  hem  of  the  skirt  of  an  Athenian  peasant's  dress, 
(Fig.  51.)  Fig.  82  is  the  border  to  the  shawl;  Fig. 
83,  the  sleeve  of  the  last-mentioned  dress ;  Fig.  84, 
the  design  on  the  apron  of  the  Arcadian  peasant, 
(Fig.  48.)  Fig.  85  is  the  border  of  the  same  dress. 
Fig.  86  is  the  pattern  round  the  hem  of  the  long 

13 


y8  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 

under-dress  of  the  Athenian  peasant,  (Fig.  51;) 
Fig.  87,  the  border  of  a  shawl,  or  something  of  the 
kind.  Fig.  88  is  another  example.  The  brocade 
dress  of  Sancta  Victoria  (Fig.  64)  offers  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  simple  elegance  of  the  Greek  de- 
signs. It  is  too  large  for  the  purpose  to  which  it 
is  employed,  and  not  sufficiently  distinct;  and, 
although  it  possesses  much  variety,  it  is  deficient 
in  regularity ;  and  one  of  the  elements  of  beauty  in 
ornamental  design,  namely,  repetition,  appears  to 
be  entirely  wanting.  In  these  respects,  the  superi- 
ority of  the  Greek  designs  is  immediately  apparent. 
They  unite  at  once  symmetry  with  regularity,  and 
variety  with  repetition. 

The  examination  of  these  designs  suggests  the 
reflection  that  when  we  have  once  attained  a  form 
of  dress  which  combines  ease  and  elegance  with 
convenience,  we  should  tax  our  ingenuity  in  invent- 
ing ornamental  designs  for  decorating  it,  rather 
than  seek  to  discover  novel  forms  of  dress. 

The  endless  variety  of  textile  fabrics  which  our 
manufacturers  are  constantly  producing,  the  variety, 


OENAMENT ECONOMY.  99 


also,  in  the  colors,  will,  with  the  embroidery  pat- 
terns issued  by  our  schools  of  design,  suffice  to 
appease  the  constant  demand  for  novelty,  which 
exists  in  an  improving  country,  without  changing 
the  form  of  our  costume,  unless  to  adopt  others 
which  reason  and  common  sense  point  out  as 
superior  to  that  in  use.  We  are  told  to  try  all 
things,  and  to  hold  fast  to  that  which  is  good. 
The  maxim  is  applicable  to  dress  as  well  as  to 
morals. 

The  subject  of  economy  in  dress,  an  essential 
object  with  many  persons,  now  claims  our  attention. 
We  venture  to  offer  a  few  remarks 'on  this  head. 
Our  first  recommendation  is  to  have  but  few  dresses 
at  a  time,  and  those  extremely  good.  If  we  have 
but  few  dresses,  we  wear  them,  and  wear  them  out 
while  they  are  in  fashion ;  but  if  we  have  many 
dresses  at  once,  some  of  them  become  quite  old- 
fashioned  before  we  have  done  with  them.  If  we 
are  rich  enough  to  afford  the  sacrifice,  the  old- 
fashioned  dress  is  got  rid  of;  if  not,  we  must  be 
content  to  appear  in  a  fashion  that  has  long  been 


100  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


superseded;  and  we  look  as  if  we  had  come  out 
of  the  tombs,  or  as  if  one  of  our  ancestors  had 
stepped  out  of  her  picture  frame,  and  again  walked 
the  earth. 

As  to  the  economy  of  selecting  the  best  materials 
for  dresses,  we  argue  thus :  Every  dress  must  be 
lined  and  made  up,  and  we  pay  as  much  for  making 
and  lining  an  inferior  article,  as  we  do  for  one  of 
the  best  quality.  Now,  a  good  silk  or  merino  will 
wear  out  two  bad  ones ;  therefore,  one  good  dress, 
lining  and  making,  will  cost  less  than  two  inferior 
ones,  with  the  expenses  of  lining  and  making  them. 
In  point  of  appearance,  also,  there  is  no  comparison 
between  the  two  ;  the  good  dress  will  look  well  to 
the  last,  while  one  of  inferior  quality  will  soon  look 
shabby.  When  a  good  silk  dress  has  become  too 
shabby  to  be  worn  longer  as  a  dress,  it  becomes, 
when  cut  up,  useful  for  a  variety  of  purposes ; 
whereas  an  inferior  silk,  or  one  purely  ornamental, 
is,  when  left  off,  good  for  nothing. 

Plain  dresses,  that  is  to  say,  those  of  a  single 
color,  and  without  a  pattern,  are  more  economical 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  101 


as  well  as  more  quiet  in  their  appearance  than  those 
of  various  colors.  They  are  also  generally  less  ex- 
pensive, because  something  is  always  paid  for  the 
novelty  of  the  fashion ;  besides,  colored  and  figured 
dresses  bear  the  date  on  the  face  of  them,  as  plainly 
as  if  it  was  there  in  printed  characters.  The  ages 
of  dress  fabrics  are  known  by  the  pattern ;  therefore 
dresses  of  this  description  should  be  put  on  as  soon 
as  purchased,  and  worn  out  at  once,  or  they  will 
appear  old-fashioned.  There  is  another  reason  why 
vari-colored  dresses  are  less  economical  than  others. 
Where  there  are  several  colors,  they  may  not  all 
be  equally  fast,  and  if  only  one  of  them  fades  the 
dress  will  lose  its  beauty.  Trimmings  are  not 
economical;  besides  their  cost  in  the  first  in- 
stance, they  become  shabby  before  the  dress,  and 
if  removed,  they  generally  leave  a  mark  where 
they  have  been,  and  so  spoil  the  appearance  of  the 
dress. 

Dresses  made  of  one  kind  of  material  only,  are 
more  durable  than  those  composed  of  two;  as,  for 
instance,  of  cotton  and  silk,  of  cotton  and  worsted, 


102  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


or  of  silk  and  worsted.  When  the  silk  is  merely 
thrown  on  the  face  of  the  material,  it  soon  wears  off. 
This  is  also  the  case  in  those  woollen  or  cotton 
goods  which  have  a  silken  stripe. 

The  question  of  economy  also  extends  to  colors, 
some  of  which  are  much  more  durable  than  others. 
For  this  we  can  give  no  rule,  except  that  drabs  and 
other  "  Quaker  colors,"  as  they  are  frequently  called, 
are  amongst  the  most  permanent  of  all  colors.  For 
other  colors  we  must  take  the  word  of  the  draper. 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  but  that  the  most 
durable  colors  are  the  cheapest  in  the  end.  In 
the  selection  of  colors,  the  expense  is  not  always 
a  criterion ;  something  must  be  paid  for  fashion 
and  novelty,  and  perhaps  for  the  cost  of  the  dye. 
The  newest  and  most  expensive  colors  are  not 
always  those  which  last  the  longest. 

It  is  not  economical  to  have  the  dresses  made 
in  the  extremity  of  the  fashion,  because  such  soon 
become  remarkable ;  but  the  fashions  should  be 
followed  at  such  a  distance,  that  the  wearer  may 
not  attract  the  epithet  of  old-fashioned. 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  103 


"We  conclude  this  part  of  our  subject  with  a  few 
suggestions  relative  to  the  selection  of  different 
styles  and  materials  of  dress. 

The  style  of  dress  should  be  adapted  to  the  age 
of  the  wearer.  As  a  general  rule,  we  should  say 
that  in  youth  the  dress  should  be  simple  and  ele- 
gant, the  ornaments  being  flowers.  In  middle  age, 
the  dress  may  be  of  rich  materials,  and  more  splen- 
did in  its  character;  jewels  are  the  appropriate 
ornaments.  In  the  decline  of  life,  the  materials  of 
which  the  dress  is  composed  may  be  equally  rich, 
but  with  less  vivacious  colors:  the  tertiaries  and 
broken  colors  are  particularly  suitable,  and  the 
character  of  the  whole  costume  should  be  quiet, 
simple,  and  dignified.  The  French,  whose  taste  in 
dress  is  so  far  in  advance  of  our  own,  say,  that 
ladies  who  are  cinquante  ans  sonnes,  should  neither 
wear  gay  colors,  nor  dresses  of.  slight  materials, 
flowers,  feathers,  or  much  jewelry;  that  they  should 
cover  their  hair,  wear  high  dresses  and  long  sleeves. 

Tall  ladies  may  wear  flounces  and  tucks,  but  they 
are  less  appropriate  for  short  persons,  As  a  gen- 


104  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


eral  rule,  vertical  stripes  make  persons  appear  taller 
than  they  really  are,  but  horizontal  stripes  have  a 
contrary  effect.  The  latter,  Mr.  Eedgrave  says,  are 
not  admissible  in  garment  fabrics,  "  since,  crossing 
the  person,  the  pattern  quarrels  with  all  the  mo- 
tions of  the  human  figure,  as  well  as  with  the  form 
of  the  long  folds  in  the  skirts  of  the  garment. 
For  this  reason,"  he  continues,  "large  and  pro- 
nounced checks,  however  fashionable,  are  often  in 
bad  taste,  and  interfere  with  the  graceful  arrange- 
ment of  the  drapery."  Is  it  to  show  their  entire 
contempt  for  the~  principles  of  design  that  our  man- 
ufacturers introduced  last  year  not  only  horizontal 
stripes  of  conspicuous  colors,  but  checks  and  plaids 
of  immense  size,  as  autumnal  fashions  for  dress 
fabrics  ?  We  had  hoped  that  the  ladies  would  have 
shown  the  correctness  of  their  taste  by  their  dis 
approval  of  these  unbecoming  designs,  but  the 
prevalence  of  the  fashion  at  the  present  time  is 
another  evidence  of  the  triumph  of  fashion  over 
good  taste. 

A  white  and  light-colored  dress  makes  the  wearers 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  105 


appear  larger,  while  a  black  or  dark  dress  causes 
them  to  appear  smaller  than  they  actually  are.  A 
judicious  person  will,  therefore,  avail  herself  of 
these  known  effects,  by  adopting  the  style  of  dress 
most  suitable  to  her  stature. 

To  sum  up,  in  a  few  words,  our  impressions 
on  this  subject,  we  should  say  that  the  best  style 
of  dress  is  that  which,  being  exactly  adapted  to  the 
climate  and  the  individual,  is  at  once  modest,  quiet, 
and  retiring,  harmonious  in  color  and  decoration, 
and  of  good  materials. 

We  conclude  with  the  following  admirable  extract 
from  Tobin's  "Honeymoon,"  which  we  earnestly 
recommend  to  the  attention  of  our  fair  readers. 

I'll  have  no  glittering  gewgaws  stuck  about  you 
To  stretch  the  gaping  eyes  of  idiot  wonder, 
And  make  men  stare  upon  a  piece  of  earth, 
As  on  the  star-wrought  firmament  —  no  feathers, 
To  wave  as  streamers  to  your  vanity  ; 
Nor  cumbrous  silk,  that  with  its  rustling  sound 
Makes  proud  the  flesh  that  bears  it.     She's  adorned 
Amply,  that  in  her  husband's  eye  looks  lovely  — 
The  truest  mirror  that  an  honest  wife 
Can  see  her  beauty  in! 
14 


106  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


Julia.     I  shall  observe,  sir. 

Duke.    I  should  like  well  to  see  you  in  the  dress  I  last 
presented  you. 

Julia.     The  blue  one,  sir? 

Duke.    No,  love,  —  the  white.    Thus  modestly  attired, 
A  half-blown  rose  stuck  in  thy  braided  hair, 
"With  no  more  diamonds  than  those  eyes  are  made  of, 
No  deeper  rubies  than  compose  thy  lips, 
Nor  pearls  more  precious  than  inhabit  them, 
With  the  pure  red  and  white,  which  that  same  hand 
Which  blends  the  rainbow,  mingles  in  thy  cheeks  ; 
This  well-proportioned  form  (think  not  I  flatter) 
In  graceful  motion  to  harmonious  sounds, 
And  thy  free  tresses  dancing  in  the  wind, 
Thou'lt  fix  as  much  observance,  as  chaste  dames 
Can  meet  without  a  blush. 

We  look  forward  hopefully  to  a  day  when  art- 
education  will  be  extended  to  all  ranks;  when  a 
knowledge  of  the  beautiful  will  be  added  to  that 
of  the  useful ;  when  good  taste,  based  upon  real 
knowledge  and  common  sense,  will  dictate  our 
fashions  in  dress  as  in  other  things.  We  have 
schools  of  art  to  reform  our  taste  in  pottery,  hard- 
ware, and  textile  fabrics,  not  to  speak  of  the  higher 
walks  of  art,  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture. 
The  handle  of  a  jug,  the  stem  of  a  wine  glass,  the 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  107 


design  for  dress  silks  or  lace  veils,  will  form  the 
subjects  of  lectures  to  the  students  of  the  various 
schools  of  design ;  disquisitions  are  written  on  the 
important  question  whether  the  ornamental  designs 
should  represent  the  real  form  of  objects,  or  only 
give  a  conventional  representation  of  them;  while 
the  study  of  the  human  figure,  the  masterpiece  of 
creation,  is  totally  neglected,  except  by  painters  and 
sculptors.  We  hope  that  the  study  of  form  will  be 
more  extended,  that  it  will  be  universal,  that  it 
will,  in  fact,  enter  into  the  general  scheme  of 
education,  and  that  we  shall  hereafter  see  as  much 
pains  bestowed  in  improving  by  appropriate  cos- 
tume the  figure  which  nature  has  given  us,  as  we 
do  now  in  distorting  it  by  tight  stays,  narrow  and 
high-heeled  shoes,  and  all  the  other  deformities  and 
eccentricities  of  that  many-faced  monster,  fashion. 
The  economy  of  the  frame,  and  the  means  of  pre- 
serving it  in  health  and  beauty,  should  form  an 
integral  part  of  education.  There  can  be  no  true 
beauty  without  health ;  and  how  can  we  hope  to 
secure  health  if  we  are  ignorant  of  the  means  of 


108  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


promoting  it,  or  if  we  violate  its  precepts  by  adopt- 
ing absurd  and  pernicious  fashions?  Surely  it  is 
not  too  much  to  hope  that  dressmakers  will  here- 
after attend  the  schools  of  design,  to  study  the 
human  form,  and  thence  learn  to  appreciate  its 
beauties,  and  to  clothe  it  with  appropriate  dress, 
calculated  to  display  its  beauties  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage, and  to  conceal  its  defects  —  the  latter  with 
the  reservation  we  have  already  noticed.  We  hope, 
also,  that  the  shoemaker  will  learn  to  model  the 
shoe  upon  the  true  form  of  the  foot. 

Manufacturers  are  now  convinced  of  the  impor- 
tance and  utility  of  schools  of  design ;  and  whether 
the  article  hereafter  to  be  produced  be  a  cup  and 
saucer,  a  fender,  a  pattern  for  a  dress,  or  for  furni- 
ture, for  a  service  of  plate  or  a  diamond  tiara,  it 
is  thought  proper  that  the  pupil,  as  a  preliminary 
course  that  cannot  be  dispensed  with,  should  com- 
mence with  the  study  of  the  human  figure.  Yet  is 
not  dress  an  art-manufacture  as  well  as  a  cup  and 
saucer,  or  a  teaboard?  Is  there  less  skill  and 
talent,  less  taste  required  to  clothe  the  form  which 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  109 


we  are  told  is  made  after  God's  own  image,  than  to 
furnish  an  apartment  ?  Why  should  not  dressmakers 
and  tailors  attend  the  schools  of  design,  as  well  as 
those  artisans  who  are  intended  to  be  employed  in 
what  are  called  art-manufactures  ?  Why  should  not 
shoemakers  be  taught  the  shape  and  movements 
of  the  foot  ?  If  this  were  the  case,  we  are  satisfied 
that  an  immediate  and  permanent  improvement 
would  be  the  consequence  in  our  style  of  dress. 
Would  any  person  acquainted  with  the  human 
form,  and  especially  with  the  little  round  form  of 
an  infant,  have  sent  to  the  Great  Exhibition  an 
infant's  robe  shaped  like  that  in  our  cut.  Fig.  89. 
An  infant  with  a  waist  "growing  fine  by  degrees 
and  beautifully  less"  !  — was  there  ever  such  a  de- 
formity ?  We  believe  that  many  portrait  painters 
stipulate  that  they  should  be  allowed  to  dictate 
the  dress,  at  least  as  regards  the  arrangement  of 
the  colors,  of  their  sitters  ;  the  reason  of  this  is,  that 
the  painter's  selection  of  dress  and  color  is  based 
upon  the  study  of  the  figure  and  complexion  of  the 
individual,  or  the  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  con- 


110  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


trast  and  harmony  of  lines,  tissues,  and  colors, 
while  the  models  which  are  presented  for  his  imi- 
tation too  frequently  offer  to  his  view  a  style  of 
dress,  both  as  regards  form  and  color,  which  set 
the  rules  of  harmony  at  defiance.  Now,  only 
suppose  that  the  dressmaker  had  the  painter's 
knowledge  of  form  and  harmony  of  lines  and  colors, 
what  a  revolution  would  take  place  in  dress  ?  We 
should  no  longer  see  the  tall  and  the  short,  the 
slender  and  the  stout,  the  brown  and  the  fair,  the 
old  and  the  young,  dressed  alike,  but  the  dress 
would  be  adapted  to  the  individual ;  and  we  believe 
that,  were  the  plan  of  study  we  recommend  generally 
adopted,  this  purpose  might  always  be  effected 
without  the  sacrifice  of  what  is  now  the  grand  de- 
sideratum in  dress  —  novelty. 

The  reasons  why  the  art  of  dressmaking  has  not 
hitherto  received  the  attention  which  it  deserves, 
are  to  be  sought  for  in  the  constitution  of  society. 
The  branches  of  manufacture  which  require  a 
knowledge  of  design,  such  as  calico  printing,  silk 
and  ribbon  weaving,  porcelain  and  pottery,  and 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  HI 


hardware  manufactures,  are  conducted  on  a  large 
scale  by  men  of  wealth  and  talent,  who,  if  they 
.  would  compete  successfully  with  rival  manufacturers, 
find  it  necessary  to  study  and  apply  to  their  own 
business  all  the  improvements  in  science,  with 
which  their  intercourse  with  society  gives  them  an 
opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted.  It  is  quite 
otherwise  with  dressmaking.  A  woman  is  at  the 
head  of  every  establishment  of  this  kind,  a  woman 
generally  of  limited  education  and  attainments, 
from  whom  cannot  be  expected  either  liberality  of 
sentiment  or  enlarged  views,  but  who  possibly 
possesses  some  tact  and  discrimination  of  character, 
which  enables  her  to  exercise  a  kind  of  dictatorial 
power  in  matters  of  dress  over  her  customers; 
these  customers  are  scarcely  better  informed  on 
the  subject  than  herself. 

The  early  life  of  the  dressmaker  is  spent  in  a 
daily  routine  of  labor  with  the  needle,  and  when 
she  becomes  a  mistress  in  her  turn,  she  exacts  from 
her  assistants  the  same  amount  of  daily  labor  that 
was  formerly  expected  from  herself.  Work,  work, 


112  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


work  with  the  needle  from  almost  childhood,  in  the 
same  close  room  from  morning  to  night,  and  not 
unfrequently  from  night  to  morning  also,  is  the 
everlasting  routine  of  the  monotonous  life  of  the 
dressmakers.  They  are  working  for  bread,  and  have 
no  leisure  to  attend  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind, 
and  the  want  of  this  mental  cultivation  is  apparent 
in  the  articles  they  produce  by  their  labor.  When 
one  of  the  young  women  who  attends  these  estab- 
lishments to  learn  the  trade,  thinks  she  has  had 
sufficient  experience,  she  leaves  the  large  establish- 
ment, and  sets  up  in  business  on  her  own  account. 
In  this  new  situation  she  works  equally  hard,  and 
has,  therefore,  no  time  for  improving  her  mind  or 
taste.  Of  the  want  of  this,  however,  she  is  not 
sensible,  because  she  can  purchase  for  a  trifle  all 
the  newest  patterns,  and  the  thought  never  enters 
her  poor  little  head,  that  the  same  fashion  may 
not  suit  all  her  customers.  This  defective  edu- 
cation of  the  dressmakers,  or  rather  their  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  human  form,  is  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  the  prevalence  of  the  old  fashion  of  tight 


OKNAMENT ECONOMY.  113 


lacing ;  it  is  so  much  easier  to  make  a  closely- 
fitting  body  suit  over  a  tight  stay  than  it  is  on 
the  pliant  and  yielding  natural  form,  in  which,  if 
one  part  be  drawn  a  little  too  tight,  or  the  con- 
trary, the  body  of  the  dress  is  thrown  out  of  shape. 
Supposing,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fit  to  be  exact, 
it  is  so  difficult  to  keep  such  a  tight-fitting  body 
in  its  place  on  the  figure  without  securing  its  form 
by  whalebones,  that  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  the  stays 
to  become  obsolete  until  the  tight-fitting  bodice 
is  also  given  up. 

This  will  never  take  place  until  not  only  the 
ladies  who  are  to  be  clothed,  but  the  dressmakers, 
shall  make  the  human  form  their  study,  and  direct 
their  efforts  to  set  off  their  natural  advantages  by 
attending  to  the  points  which  are  their  character- 
istic beauties.  A  long  and  delicate  throat,  falling 
shoulders,  not  too  wide  from  point  to  point,  a  flat 
back,  round  chest,  wide  hips  —  these  are  the  points 
which  should  be  developed  by  the  dress.  Whence 
it  follows,  that  every  article  of  dress  which  shortens 
the  throat,  adds  height  or  width  to  the  shoulders, 

15 


114  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 

roundness  to  the  back,  or  flatness  to  the  chest, 
must  be  radically  wrong  in  principle,  and  unpleas- 
ant and  repulsive  in  effect.  In  the  same  manner, 
whatever  kind  of  dress  adds  to  the  height  of  a  figure 
already  too  tall  and  thin,  or  detracts  from  the  ap- 
parent height  of  the  short  and  stout,  must  be 
avoided.  These  things  should  form  the  study  of 
the  dressmaker. 

As  society  is  now  constituted,  however,  the  dress- 
maker has  not,  as  we  have  already  observed,  leisure 
to  devote  to  studies  of  the  necessity  and  impor- 
tance of  which  she  is  still  ignorant.  The  reform 
must  be  begun  by  the  ladies  themselves.  They 
must  acquire  a  knowledge  of  form,  and  of  the 
principles  of  beauty  and  harmony,  and  so  exercise 
a  controlling  influence  over  the  dressmakers.  By 
this  means,  a  better  taste  will  be  created,  and  the 
dressmakers  will  at  length  discover  their  deficiency 
in  certain  guiding  principles,  and  will  be  driven  at 
last  to  resort  to  similar  studies.  But  in  this  case 
a  startling  difficulty  presents  itself  —  the  poor  dress- 
maker is  at  present  over- worked :  how  can  she  find 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  115 


leisure  to  attend  the  schools  of  design,  or  even  pur- 
sue, if  she  had  the  ability,  the  necessary  studies  at 
home  ?  A  girl  is  apprenticed  to  the  trade  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  or  fourteen ;  she  works  at  it  all  her 
life,  rising  early,  and  late  taking  rest ;  and  what  is 
the  remuneration  of  her  daily  toil  of  twelve  hours  ? 
Eighteen  pence,  or  at  most  two  shillings  a  day, 
with  her  board  !  *  As  she  reckons  the  value  of  the 
latter  at  a  shilling,  it  follows,  that  the  earnings 
of  a  dressmaker,  in  the  best  period  of  her  life,  who 
goes  out  to  work,  could  not  exceed  fifteen  shillings, 
or,  at  the  most,  eighteen  shillings  a  week,  if  she 
did  not  —  at  the  hazard  of  her  health,  which,  in- 
deed, is  frequently  sacrificed  —  work  at  home  be- 
fore she  begins,  and  after  she  has  finished,  her 
day's  work  abroad.  The  carpenter  or  house  painter 
does  not  work  harder,  or  bring  to  bear  on  his  em- 
ployment greater  knowledge,  than  the  poor  dress- 
maker; yet  he  has  four  shillings  sixpence  a  day, 

*  Of  course  it  will '  be  understood  that  these  are  the  English 
prices ;  but  does  not  the  comparison  hold  good  between  male  and 
female  labor  in  this  country  ? 


116  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


without  his  board,  while  she  has  only  what  is 
equivalent  to  two  shillings  sixpence,  or  three  shil- 
lings. What  reason  can  be  assigned  why  a  wo- 
man's work,  if  equally  well  done,  should  not  be 
as  well  paid  as  that  of  a  man?  A  satisfactory 
reason  has  yet  to  be  given ;  the  fact,  however,  is 
indisputable,  that  women  are  not  in  general  so  well 
paid  for  their  labor  as  men. 

Although  these  remarks  arose  naturally  out  of  our 
subject,  we  must  not  digress  too  far.  To  return  to 
the  dressmaker.  If  the  hours  of  labor  of  these  white 
slaves  who  toil  in  the  dressmaking  establishments 
were  limited  to  ten  or  twelve  hours,  as  in  large  fac- 
tories, two  consequences  would  follow :  the  first  is, 
that  more  hands  would  be  employed,  and  the  sec- 
ond, that  the  young  women  would  have  time  to 
attend  schools,  and  improve  their  minds.  If  they 
could  also  attend  occasional  lectures  on  the  figure, 
and  on  the  harmony  of  color  and  costume  with  ref- 
erence to  dress,  the  best  effects  would  follow. 

Those  dressmakers  who  are  rich  enough,  and,  we 
may  add,  many  ladies  also,  take  in  some  book  of 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  117 


fashions  with  colored  illustrations,  and  from  this 
they  imbibe  their  notions  of  beauty  of  form  and 
elegance  of  costume.  How  is  it  possible,  we  would 
ask,  for  either  the  dressmaker  or  the  ladies  who 
employ  them  to  acquire  just  ideas  of  form,  or  of 
suitable  costume,  when  their  eyes ,  are  accustomed 
only  to  behold  such  deformed  and  unnatural  rep- 
resentations of  the  human  figure  as  those  in  the 
accompanying  plates  ?  Figs.  90  and  91.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  small  waists  should  be  admired,  when 
the  books  which  aspire  to  be  the  handmaids  and 
mirrors  of  fashion  present  to  their  readers  such 
libels  on  beauty  of  form  ?  Now,  suppose  that  lith- 
ographed drawings  of  costumes  issued  occasionally 
from  the  schools  of  design,  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that,  with  the  knowledge  which  the  stu- 
dents have  acquired  of  the  human  figure,  the  illus- 
trations would  be  more  accurate  imitations  of  na- 
ture ?  An  eye  accustomed  to  the  study  of  nature 
can  scarcely  bear  to  contemplate,  much  less  to  im- 
itate, the  monsters  of  a  depraved  taste  which  dis- 
grace the  different  publications  that  aspire  to  make 


118  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


known  the  newest  fashions.  Many  of  the  illustra- 
tions of  these  publications,  although  ill  propor- 
tioned, are  executed  in  a  certain  stylish  manner 
which  takes  with  the  uneducated,  and  the  mechan- 
ical execution  of  the  figures  is  also  good.  This, 
however,  is  so  far  from  being  an  advantage,  that  it 
only  renders  them  the  more  dangerous ;  like  the 
song  of  the  siren,  they  lead  only  to  evil. 

"We  are  told  that  many  of  the  first  Parisian  artists 
derive  a  considerable  part  of  their  income  from 
drawing  the  figures  in  the  French  books  of  fash- 
ion and  costume,  and  that,  in  the  early  part 
of  his  career,  Horace  Vernet,  the  president  of 
the  French  Academy,  did  not  disdain  to  employ 
his  talents  in  this  way.  We  cannot,  however,  refrain 
from  expressing  our  surprise  and  honest  indigna- 
tion that  artists  of  eminence,  especially  those 
who,  like  the  French  school,  have  a  reputation  for 
correct  drawing,  and  who  must,  therefore,  be  so  well 
acquainted  with  the  actual  as  well  as  ideal  propor- 
tions of  the  female  figure,  should  so  prostitute  their 
talents  as  to  employ  them  in  delineating  the  ill- 


ORNAMENT ECONOMY.  119 


proportioned  figures  which  appear  in  books  of 
fashions.  It  is  no  small  aggravation  of  their  of- 
fence, in  our  eyes,  that  the  figures  should  be  drawn 
in  such  graceful  positions,  and  with  the  exception 
of  the  defective  proportions,  with  so  much  skill. 
These  beauties  only  make  them  more  dangerous; 
the  goodness  of  their  execution  misleads  the  unfor- 
tunate victims  of  their  fascination.  What  young 
lady,  unacquainted  with  the  proportions  of  the 
figure,  could  look  on  these  prints  of  costumes  and 
go  away  without  the  belief  that  a  small  waist  and 
foot  were  essential  elements  of  beauty  ?  So  she 
goes  home  from  her  dressmaker's,  looks  in  the  glass, 
and  not  finding  her  own  waist  and  foot  as  small 
as  those  in  the  books  of  fashion,  gives  her  stay-lace 
an  extra  tightening  pull,  and,  regardless  of  corns, 
squeezes  her  feet  into  tight  shoes,  which  makes  the 
instep  appear  swollen.  Both  the  figures  in  our  last 
plates  were  originally  drawn  and  engraved  by 
Jules  David,  and  Reville,  in  "  Le  Moniteur  de  la 
Mode"  which  is  published  at  Paris,  London,  New 
York,  and  St.  Petersburg.  Let  our  readers  look  at 


120  ORNAMENT ECONOMY. 


these  figures,  and  say  whether  the  most  determined 
votary  of  tight  lacing  ever  succeeded  in  compressing 
her  waist  into  the  proportions  represented  in  these 
figures. 

We  should  like  to  hear  that  lectures  were  given 
occasionally,  by  a  lady  in  the  female  school  of  de- 
sign, on  the  subjects  of  form,  and  of  dress  in  its 
adaptation  to  form  and  to  harmony  of  color.  We 
have  no  doubt  that  a  lady  competent  to  deliver 
these  lectures  will  readily  be  found.  After  a  course 
of  these  lectures,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  predict  that 
illustrations  of  fashion  emanating  from  this  source 
would  be,  in  point  of  taste,  every  thing  that  could 
be  desired.  We  venture  to  think  that  the  students 
of  the  female  school  may  be  as  well  and  as  profit- 
ably employed  in  designing  costumes,  as  in  invent- 
ing patterns  for  cups  and  saucers  or  borders  for 
veils.  Until  some  course,  of  the  nature  we  have 
indicated,  is  adopted,  we  cannot  hope  for  any  per- 
manent improvement  in  our  costume. 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS.          121 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

SOME   THOUGHTS   ON   CHILDREN'S    DRESS. 
BY     MRS.     MERRIFIELD. 

AN  any  good  and  sufficient  reason  be 
given,  said  a  friend,  as  we  were  con- 
templating the  happy  faces  and  lively 
gestures  of  a  party  of  boys  and  girls, 
who,  one  cold,  frosty  evening,  were 
playing  at  the  old  game  called  "  I  sent  a  letter  to 
my  love,"  why,  when  one  of  the  party  picks  up  the 
ball  which  another  has  thrown  down,  the  boys 
always  stoop,  while  the  girls  (with  the  exception 
of  one  little  rosy  girl,  who  is  active  and  supple  as 
the  boys)  invariably  drop  on  one  knee  ?  At  first 
we  almost  fancied  this  must  be"  a  new  way  of  play- 
ing the  game ;  but  when  one  of  the  seniors  threw  a 
handful  of  bonbons  among  the  children,  and  in  their 
eager  scramble  to  pick  up  the  tempting  sweets  we 

16 


observed  the  same  respective  actions,  namely,  that 
the  boys  stooped,  while  the  girls  knelt  on  one  knee, 
we  began  to  meditate  on  the  cause  of  this  diversity 
of  action.  A  little  more  observation  convinced  us 
that  the  girls,  though  equally  lively,  were  less  free 
in  their  movement  than  the  boys.  We  observed, 
also,  that  eveiy  now  and  then  some  of  the  girls 
stopped  and  hitched  their  clothes,  (which  appeared 
almost  in  danger  of  falling  off, )  with  an  awkward 
movement,  first  upon  one  shoulder,  and  then  on 
the  other,  while  others  jerked  one  shoulder  upwards, 
which  caused  the  sleeve  on  that  side  to  sink  nearly 
to  the  elbow.  "Now,"  we  exclaimed,  "we  can 
solve  the  problem :  the  different  actions  are  caused 
by  the  difference  in  the  dress ;  let  us  see  where  the 
difference  lies."  So  we  continued  our  observations, 
and  soon  found  that  the  boys  were  all  dressed  in 
high  dresses  up  to  the  throat,  while  the  bands 
which  encircled  their  waists  were  so  loose  as  merely 
to  keep  the  dress  in  its  place  without  confining  it ; 
in  short,  that  their  dress  did  not  offer  the  slightest 
restraint  on  their  freedom  of  movement.  It  was 


THOUGHTS     ON      CHILDREN'S      DRESS.         123 


otherwise  with  the  girls,  excepting  the  little  rosy 
girl  before  mentioned  :  they  were  dressed  in  low 
dresses,  and  their  shoulders  were  so  bare  that  we 
involuntarily  thought  of  a  caterpillar  casting  its 
skin,  and  began  to  fear,  from  the  uneasy  move- 
ment of  their  shoulders,  that  the  same  thing 
might  happen  to  the  children,  when  we  observed 
that  this  was  rendered  impossible  by  the  tightness 
of  the  clothes  about  the  waist.  The  mystery  was 
now  cleared  up ;  the  tightness  of  the  dress  at  the 
waist,  while  it  prevented  the  children  from  "  slip- 
ping shell,"  as  it  were,  entirely  destroyed  their  free- 
dom of  movement.  We  could  not  help  contrasting 
these  poor  girls  —  dressed  in  the  very  pink  of  fash- 
ion, with  their  bare  shoulders,  compressed  waists, 
and  delicate  appearance  —  with  the  rosy  face,  quick 
and  active  movement,  and  thick  waist  of  the  little  girl 
before  alluded  to ;  and  we  sighed  as  we  thought  that, 
induced  by  the  culpable  folly  or  ignorance  of  parents, 

"Pale  decay 

Would  steal  before  the  steps  of  time, 
And  snatch  'their'  bloom  away." 


124         THOUGHTS     ON      CHILDREN'S      DRESS. 


"Whence  does  it  arise,"  continued  my  friend, 
"  that  the  boys  are  clad  in  warm  dresses,  suited 
to  the  season,  their  chests  and  arms  protected 
from  the  wintry  air,  and  their  feet  incased  in 
woollen  stockings,  while  the  girls  are  suffered  to 
shiver  at  Christmas  in  muslin  dresses,  with  bare 
necks  and  arms,  and  silk  or  thin  cotton  stock- 
ings ?  Are  they  less  susceptible  of  cold  than  boys  ? 
Is  their  circulation  less  languid,  that  their  clothes 
are  so  much  thinner?  Are  their  figures  better, 
their  health  stronger,  for  the  compression  of  their 
tender  bodies  by  stays?"  At  this  point  our  cogi- 
tations were  stopped  by  a  summons  to  supper; 
and  after  supper,  hats  and  shawls  were  produced, 
and  we  took  our  leave.  Our  young  companions, 
fatigued  with  their  exertions,  soon  fell  asleep  in 
the  corners  of  the  carriage,  and  we  were  left  to  our 
own  meditations.  Our  thoughts  once  more  reverted 
to  the  subject  of  children's  dress,  and  gradually 
assumed  the  following  form:  — 

The  subject  of  dress,  which  is  so  important  both 
to  our  health  and  comfort,  is  usually  treated  as  a 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DEESS.          125 


matter  of  fashion,  and  is  regulated  partly  by  indi- 
vidual fancy,  partly  by  the  dictates  of  the  modiste. 
Fashion,  as  it  applies  to  the  costume  of  men,  is, 
with  the  exception  of  the  hat,  controlled  by  con- 
venience and  common  sense ;  but  with  regard  to 
the  dress  of  women  and  children,  neither  of  these 
considerations  has  any  weight.  The  most  extrava- 
gant and  bizarre  arrangements  of  form  and  colors 
will  meet  with  admirers  and  imitators,  provided 
they  emanate  from  a  fashionable  source.  The  dress 
of  children,  especially,  appears  to  be  exceedingly 
fantastic  in  its  character,  and,  with  regard  to  that 
of  girls,  is  ill  adapted  to  secure  the  enjoyment  of 
health  and  the  perfect  development  of  the  figure. 
We  venture  to  offer  a  few  remarks  on  this  highly 
interesting  theme. 

In  discussing  the  subject  of '  children's  dress, 
several  points  present  themselves  for  our  consider- 
ation, namely,  first,  the  adaptation  of  the  costume 
to  the  climate,  the  movements,  and  healthful  devel- 
opment of  the  figure;  and  secondly,  the  general 
elegance  of  the  habiliments,  the  harmony  of  the 


126         THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS. 


colors,  and  their  special  adaptation  to  the  age  and . 
individual  characteristics  of  children.  The  first 
are  essential  conditions ;  the  latter,  though  too  fre- 
quently treated  as  the  most  important,  may,  in 
comparison  with  the  first,  be  deemed  non-essentials. 
We  shall  remark  on  these  subjects  in  the  before- 
mentioned  order. 

With  regard  to  the  adaptation  of  the  dress  of 
children  to  the  climate,  this  appears  so  evident  that 
any  observations  upon  it  might  be  deemed  almost 
unnecessary ;  yet,  in  practice,  how  little  is  it  under- 
stood !  The  great  object  in  view  in  regulating  the 
warmth  of  the  clothing,  is  to  guard  the  wearer  from 
the  vicissitudes  of  the  climate,  and  to  equalize  the 
circulation,  which  is  accelerated  by  heat  and  re- 
tarded by  cold.  Children  are  habitually  full  of 
activity,  which  quickens  the  circulation  and  pro- 
duces a  determination  to  the  skin  ;  in  other  words, 
causes  some  degree  of  perspiration,  and  if  this  per- 
spiration be  suddenly  checked  by  the  application 
of  cold,  illness  in  some  shape  or  other  is  induced. 
In  order  to  lessen  this  risk,  the  clothing  should  be 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS.          127 

light  and  warm ;  sufficiently  warm  to  shield  the 
child  from  the  effects  o-T  cold,  but  not  to  elevate 
greatly  the  temperature  of  the  body.  The  latter 
would  only  render  the  child  more  susceptible  of 
cold.  Children  are,  by  some  over-careful  but  not 
judicious  parents,  so  burdened  with  clothes  that 
one  is  surprised  to  find  they  can  move  under  the 
vast  encumbrance. 

There  is  much  diversity  of  opinion  among  medical 
men  as  to  the  propriety  of  wearing  flannel  next  to 
the  skin.  The  arguments  appear  to  be  in  favor 
of  the  practice,  provided  that  the  thickness  of  the 
flannel  be  proportioned  to  the  seasons  of  the  year. 
In  winter  it  should  be  thick ;  in  summer  it  can 
scarcely  be  too  thin.  Flannel  is  preferable  to  linen 
or  calico,  because,  although  it  may  be  saturated 
with  perspiration,  it  never  strikes  cold  to  the  skin ; 
whereas  linen,  under  similar  circumstances,  always 
does,  and  the  sudden  application  of  cold  to  the 
skin,  when  warmed  by  exercise,  checks  the  circu- 
lation, and  causes  illness. 

Parents  are  frequently  guilty  of  much  inconsist- 


128         THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS'. 


ency  in  the  clothing  of  their  children.  The  child, 
perhaps,  has  delicate  lungs  ;  it  must,  therefore,  have 
warm  clothing ;  so  garment  after  garment,  made 
fashionably,  that  is  to  say,  very  full  and  very  short,  is 
heaped  one  upon  the  other  over  the  chest  and  upper 
part  of  the  body,  until  the  poor  child  can  scarcely 
move  under  the  heavy  burden  with  which,  with 
mistaken  kindness,  it  has  been  laden,  while  the 
lower  limbs,  in  which  the  circulation  is  most  lan- 
guid, and  which  require  to  be  protected  as  well  as 
the  chest,  are  frequently  exposed  to  the  air,  and  the 
foot  is  covered  with  a  shoe  which  is  too  thin  to 
keep  it  dry.  The  consequence  of  this  arrangement 
is,  that  the  child,  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  its 
clothing,  becomes  overheated,  and  being  cooled  too 
hastily,  catches  severe  colds. 

The  habiliments  of  children  cannot  be  too  light 
in  weight ;  and  this  is  perfectly  consistent  with  a 
proper  degree  of  warmth.  Those  parents  are  greatly 
to  blame  who,  influenced  only  by  appearance,  and 
the  wish  to  dress  their  children  fashionably,  add  to 


the  weight  of  their  clothing  by  introducing  so  much 
unnecessary  fulness  into  the  skirts. 

The  next  point  for  consideration,  and  which  is 
not  inferior  in  importance  to  the  last,  is  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  dress  to  the  movements  and  healthful 
development  of  the  figure ;  and,  strange  to  say,  this 
point  is  almost  entirely  overlooked  by  those  who 
have  the  management  and  control  of  children,  al- 
though a  few  honest  and  sensible  medical  men  have 
raised  their  warning  voices  against  the  system  now 
pursued. 

We  hear  every  where  of  the  march  of  intellect; 
we  are  perpetually  told  that  the  schoolmaster  is 
abroad  ;  lessons  and  masters  of  all  kinds  are  en- 
deavoring 

"  To  teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot ; " 

while  the  little  delicate  frame  which  is  to  bear  all 
this  mental  labor  is  left  to  the  ignorance  of  moth- 
ers, and  nurses,  and  the  tender  mercies  of  the  dress- 
maker, who  seems  to  think  that  the  human  frame 
is  as  easily  moulded  into  an  imitation  of  those 

17 


130  THOUGHTS      ON      CHILDREN'S    DRESS. 


libels  on  humanity  represented  in  books  of  fash- 
ionable costume  as  the  materials  with  which  she 
works.  Would  that  we  had  powers  of  persuasion 
to  convince  our  readers  how  greatly  these  figures, 
with  their  excessively-small  waists,  hands  and  feet, 
deviate  from  the  actual  proportions  of  well-formed 
women!  Unfortunately,  the  pinched  waist  is  too 
common  in  real  life  for  those  unacquainted  with 
the  proportions  of  the  figure  not  to  think  it  one 
of  the  essential  elements  of  beauty.  So  far,  how- 
ever, .  from  being  a  beauty,  a  small  waist  is  an 
actual  blemish.  Never,  until  the  economy  of  the 
human  frame  is  studied  by  all  classes,  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  on  which  its  beauties  depend 
is  disseminated  among  all  ranks,  can  we  hope  that 
just  ideas  will  be  entertained  on  this  subject. 

If  there  is  one  thing  in  which  the  schoolmaster 
or  the  reformer  is  more  wanted  than  in  another, 
it  is  in  our  dress.  From  our  birth  to  our  death 
we  are  the  slaves  of  fashion,  of  prejudice,  and  of 
circumstances.  The  tender,  unresisting  infant,  the 
delicate  girl,  the  mature  woman,  alike  suffer  from 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS.          131 


these  evil  influences;  some  fall  victims  to  them, 
others  suffer  during  life.  Let  us  consider  the  dress 
of  an  infant.  Here,  however,  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  of  late  years  much  improvement  has 
taken  place  in  some  respects,  although  much  still 
remains  to  be  done.  Caps,  with  their  trimming 
of  three  or  four  rows  of  lace,  and  large  cockades 
which  rivalled  in  size  the  dear  little  round  face  of 
the  child,  are  discontinued  almost  entirely  within 
doors,  though  the  poor  child  is  still  almost  over- 
whelmed with  cap,  hat,  and  feathers,  in  its  daily 
airings,  the  additional  weight  which  its  poor  neck 
has  to  sustain  never  once  entering  into  the  calcu- 
lation of  its  mother  and  nurse.  Fine  feathers,  it  is 
said,  make  fine  birds.  This  may  be  true  with 
respect  to  the  feathered  creation,  but  it  is  not  so 
with  regard  to  children.  They  suffer  from  the  mis- 
placed finery,  and  from  the  undue  heat  of  the  head. 
And  yet  the  head  has,  generally  speaking,  been 
better  treated  by  us  than  the  rest  of  the  body. 
When  we  look  back  upon  the  history  of  costume, 
it  really  seems  as  if  men  —  or  women,  shall  we 


132         THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS. 


say?  —  had  exercised  their  ingenuity  in  torturing 
the  human  frame,  and  destroying  its  -health  and 
vigor, 

The  American  Indian  compresses  the  tender  skull 
of  the  infant,  and  binds  its  little  body  on  to  a  flat 
board ;  the  Chinese  squeezes  the  feet  of  the  females  ; 
the  Italian  peasants,  following  the  custom  of  the 
Orientals,  still  roll  the  infant  in  swathing  bands; 
the  little  legs  of  the  child,  that  when  left  to  its  own 
disposal  are  in  perpetual  motion,  now  curled  up  to 
the  body,  then  thrust  out  their  extreme  length,  to 
the  evident  enjoyment  of  their  owner,  are  extended 
in  a  straight  line,  laid  side  by  side,  and  bandaged 
together,  so  that  the  infant  reminds  one  in  shape 
of  a  mummy.  In  this  highly  'cultivated  country  we 
are  guilty  towards  our  infants  of  practices  quite  as 
senseless,  as  cruel,  and  as  contrary  to  nature.  The 
movements  of  the  lower  limbs,  so  essential  to  the 
healthy  growth  of  the  child,  are  limited  and  re- 
strained, if  not  altogether  prevented,  by  the  great 
weight  that  we  hang  upon  them.  The  long  petti- 
coats, in  which  every  infant  in  this  country  has 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS.          133 


been  for  centuries  doomed  to  pass  many  months  of 
its  existence,  are  as  absurd  as  they  are  prejudicial 
to  the  child.  The  evil  has  of  late  years  rather  in- 
creased than  diminished,  for  the  clothes  are  not  only 
made  much  longer,  but  much  fuller,  so  that  the  poor 
victim  has  an  additional  weight  to  bear.  Many 
instances  can  be  mentioned  in  which  the  long 
clothes  have  been  made  a  yard  and  a  quarter  long. 
The  absurdity  of  this  custom  becomes  apparent, 
if  we  only  imagine  a  mother  or  nurse  of  short 
statue  carrying  an  infant  in  petticoats  of  this 
length  ;  and  we  believe  that  long  clothes  are  always 
made  totally  irrespective  of  the  height  of  mother  or 
nurse.  Imagine  one  or  the  other  treading  on  the 
robe,  and  throwing  herself  and  the  child  down ! 
Imagine,  also,  the  probable  consequences  of  such 
an  accident !  And  when  one  ventures  to  express 
doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  dressing  an  infant 
in  long  clothes,  instead  of  arguments  in  their  favor, 
one  is  met  by  the  absurd  remark,  "A  baby  looks 
so  grand  in  long  clothes ! "  We  have  for  some 
rears  endeavored,  as  far  as  our  influence  extended, 


134         THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS. 


to  put  an  end  to  this  practice,  and  in  some  cases 
we  have  so  far  succeeded  as  to  induce  the  mother 
to  short-coat  the  child  before  it  was  three  months 
old,  and  even  previous  to  this  period  to  make  the 
under  garments  of  a  length  suited  to  the  size  of 
the  child,  while  the  frock  or  robe,  as  it  is  called, 
retained  the  fashionable  length.  The  latter,  being 
of  fine  texture,  did  not  add  considerably  to  the 
weight  of  the  clothes.  Children  who  have  the  free 
use  of  their  limbs  not  only  walk  earlier  than  others, 
but  are  stronger  on  their  feet. 

Another  evil  practice,  which  some  years  since 
prevailed  universally,  was  that  of  rolling  a  bandage, 
three  inches  in  width,  and  two  or  three  yards  in 
length,  round  the  body  of  the  child.  The  pain  that 
such  a  bandage,  from  its  unyielding  nature,  would 
occasion,  not  to  speak  of  its  ill  effects  on  the  health, 
may  be  readily  imagined.  This  bandage  was,  in 
fact,  a  kind  of  breaking  in  for  the  tight  lacing,  the 
penalty  which  most  females  in  this  country  have 
had,  at  some  period  or  other,  to  undergo. 

There   is  no   end  of  the  inconsistencies  of  chil- 


THOUGHTS      ON      CHILDREN'S      DRESS.         135 


dren's  dress.  If,  in  early  infancy,  they  are  buried 
in  long  petticoats,  no  sooner  can  they  walk  than 
the  petticoats  are  so  shortened  that  they  scarcely 
cover  the  child's  back  when  it  stoops.  The  human 
race  has  a  wonderful  power  of  accommodating  itself 
to  a  variety  of  temperatures  and  climates ;  but  per- 
haps it  is  seldom  exposed  to  greater  vicissitudes 
than  in  the  change  from  long  clothes  to  the  ex- 
tremely short  and  full  ones  that  are  now  fashion- 
able. The  very  full '  skirt  is  not  so  warm  in 
proportion  to  its  length  as  one  of  more  moderate 
fulness;  because,  instead  of  clinging  round  the 
figure,  it  stands  off  from  it,  and  admits  the  air 
under  it.  The  former  is  also  heavier  than  the 
latter,  inasmuch  as  it  contains  more  material ;  and 
the  weight  of  the  clothing  is  a  great  disadvantage 
to  a  child.  A  sensible  medical  writer,  Dr.  John 
F.  South,  in  an  excellent  little  work  entitled  "  Do- 
mestic Surgery,"  makes  some  very  judicious  obser- 
vations relative  to  children's  dress.  Of  the  fashion 
of  dressing  boys  with  the  tunic  reaching  to  the 
throat,  and  trousers,  which  are  both  so  loose  as 


13G         THOUGHTS      ON      CHILDREN'S      DRESS. 


to  offer  no  impediment  to  freedom  of  motion,  he 
approves  ;  but  he  condemns,  in  the  strongest 
terms,  "the  unnatural'1  —  Mr.  South  remarks  he 
had  almost  said  "atrocious — system  to  which,  in 
youth,  if  not  in  childhood,  girls  are  subjected  for 
the  improvement  of  their  figure  and  gait." 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  present  generation  that  it 
is  the  fashion  for  the  dresses  of  even  little  girls  to 
be  made  as  high  as  the  throat ;  the  old  fashion  of 
cutting  the  frock  low  round  the  neck,  which  still 
exists  in  what  is  called  "full  dress,"  is  objectionable 
on  more  than  one  account.  In  the  first  place,  it  is 
objected  to  on  the  consideration  of  health ;  because 
the  upper  part  of  the  chest  is  not  protected  from 
the  influence  of  currents  of  air,  and  by  this  means, 
as  Mr.  South  observes,  the  foundation  is  laid  for 
irritable  lungs.  In  the  next  place,  the  dress  is  gen- 
erally suffered  to  fall  off  the  shoulders,  and  is,  in 
fact,  only  retained  in  its  place  by  the  tight  band 
about  the  waist.  To  avoid  the  uneasiness  occa- 
sioned by  the  pressure  of  the  latter,  the  child  slips 
its  clothes  off  one  shoulder,  generally  the  right, 


THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS.          137 


which  it  raises  more  than  the  other;  the  conse- 
quence of  this  is,  that  the  raised  shoulder  becomes 
permanently  higher  than  the  other,  and  the  spine 
is  drawn  towards  the  same  side.  It  is  said  that 
there  is  scarcely  one  English  woman  in  fifty  who 
has  not  one  shoulder  higher  or  thicker  than  the 
other ;  and  there  appears  but  little  doubt  that 
much  of  this  deformity  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
above-mentioned  cause.  In  confirmation  of  this 
opinion,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  practice  of 
wearing  dresses  low  in  the  neck  is  almost  peculiar 
to  English  girls ;  French  girls,  nearly  from  infancy, 
wear  high  dresses,  and  it  is  certain  that  deformity 
is  not  so  frequent  among  French  women  as  it  is 
among  English. 

The  discipline  of  tight  lacing  is  frequently  begun 
so  early  in  life,  that  the  poor  victim  has  little  or  no 
recollection  of  the  pain  and  suffering  occasioned  by 
the  pressure  of  the  stiff  and  uncomfortable  stays 
before  the  frame  has  become  accustomed  to  them. 
Those  of  our  readers  who  were  fortunate  enough  to 

18 


138         THOUGHTS     ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS. 


escape  this  infliction  in  early  life,  and  who  adopted 
stiff  stays  at  a  more  mature  age,  can  bear  testimony 
to  the  suffering  occasioned  by  them  during  the  first 
few  weeks  of  their  use.  "  0,"  said  a  girl  who 
put  on  stiff  stays,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  age.  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen,  "  I  wish  bedtime  was  come,  that 
I  might  take  off  these  stiff  and  uncomfortable  stays, 
they  pain  me  so  much."  "  Hush,  hush ! "  ex- 
claimed a  starch  old  maiden  aunt,  shocked  at  what 
she  thought  the  indelicacy  of  the  expression  which 
pain  had  wrung  from  the  poor  girl ;  "  you  must  bear 
it  for  a  time;  you  will  soon  get  used  to  it."  Used 
to  it!  Tes,  indeed,  as  the  cook  said  the  eels  did 
to  skinning,  and  with,  as  regards  the  poor  girls, 
almost  as  disastrous  consequences. 

There  are  three  points  of  view  in  which  tight 
lacing  is  prejudicial.  It  weakens  the  muscles  of 
the  shoulders  and  chest,  which  rust,  as  it  were,  for 
want  of  use;  it  injures,  by  pressure,  the  important 
organs  contained  in  the  chest  and  trunk;  and, 
lastly,  instead  of  improving  the  figure,  it  positively 


THOUGHTS     ON      CHILDREN'S     DRESS.         139 


and  absolutely  deforms  it.  A  waist  dispropor- 
tionately small,  compared  with  the  stature  and 
proportions  of  the  individual,  is  a  greater  deformity 
than  one  which  is  too  large;  the  latter  is  simply 
clumsy  ;  it  does  not  injure  the  health  of  the  person, 
while  the  former  is  not  only  prejudicial  to  health, 
but  to  beauty.  Were  our  fair  readers  but  once 
convinced  of  this  fact,  there  would  be  an  end  of 
tight  lacing ;  and  the  good  results  arising  from  the 
abolition  of  this  practice  would  be  evident  in  the 
improved  health  of  the  next  generation. 

What  a  host  of  evils  follow  in  the  steps  of  tight 
lacing !  Indigestion,  hysteria,  spinal  distortion, 
consumption,  liver  complaints,  disease  of  the  heart, 
cancer,  early  death !  —  these  are  a  few  of  them, 
and  enough  to  make  both  mothers  and  daughters 
tremble.  It  is  an  aggravation  of  the  evil  that  is 
brought  upon  us  frequently  by  the  agency  of  a 
mother  —  of  her  upon  whose  affection  and  experi- 
ence a  child  naturally  relies  in  all  things,  and  whose 
lamentable  ignorance  of  what  constitutes  beauty 


of  form,  as  well  as  her  subjection  to  the  thraldom 
of  fashion,  is  the  prolific  source  of  so  much  future 
misery  to  her  unsuspecting  daughter. 

Education  is  the  order  of  the  day;  but  surely 
that  education  must  be  very  superficial  and  incom- 
plete, of  which  the  study  of  the  economy  of  the 
human  form,  its  various  beauties,  and  the  wonderful 
skill  with  which  it  was  created,  form  no  part.  A 
girl  spends  several  years  in  learning  French,  Italian, 
and  German,  which  may  be  useful  to  her  should 
she  meet  with  French,  Italians,  or  Germans,  or 
should  she  visit  the  continent;  she  spends  three, 
four,  five,  and  sometimes  six  hours  a  day,  in  prac- 
tising on  the  piano,  frequently  without  having  any 
real  talent  for  this  accomplishment,  while  she  is 
kept  in  utter  ignorance  of  that  which  is  of  vital 
consequence  not  only  to  herself,  but  to  her  future 
offspring,  namely,  a  knowledge  of  what  constitutes 
true  beauty,  and  contributes  to  the  preservation  of 
health,  and,  we  may  also  add,  of  good  humor  and 
happiness ;  for  it  is  one  of  the  evils  attending  ill 


141 


health,  that  it  frequently  induces  a  fretful  and 
irritable  state  of  mind*  Instead  of  the  really  useful 
knowledge  of  the  economy  of  the  frame,  and  the 
means  of  preserving  health,  girls  are  taught  the' 
constrained  attitudes  and  the  artificial  deportment 
of  the  dancing  master.  The  remark  of  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  on  this  subject  has  been  often  quoted. 
He  said,  "All  the  motions  of  children  are  full  of 
grace;  affectation  and  distortion  come  in  with  the 
dancing  master."  To  dancing  itself  there  is  not 
the  slightest  objection ;  it  is  at  once  an  agreeable 
and  healthy  occupation,  and  it  affords  a  pleasing 
and  innocent  recreation.  Xhe  pleasure  which  most 
children  take  in  it,  in  spite  of  the  "exercises" 
which  they  are  compelled  to  practise,  proves,  we 
think,  its  utility. 

The  treatment  of  the  feet  is  on  a  par,  with  that 
of  the  rest  of  the  body.  The  toes  are  thrust  close 
together  into  a  shoe,  the  shape  of  the  sole  of  which 
does  not  resemble  that  of  the  foot.  It  is  generally 
narrower  than  the  foot,  which,  therefore,  hangs  over 


142         THOUGHTS    ON     CHILDREN'S     DRESS. 


the  sides.  The  soles  of  children's  shoes  are,  more- 
over, made  alike  on  both  sides,  whereas  the  inside 
should  be  nearly  straight,  and  the  width  of  the  sole 
should  correspond  exactly  with  that  of  the  foot. 
Boots,  which  have  been  so  fashionable  of  late  years, 
are  very  convenient,  and  have  a  neat  appearance, 
but  they  are  considered  to  weaken  the  ankle,  be- 
cause the  artificial  support  which  they  give  to  that 
part  prevents  the  full  exercise  of  the  muscles,  which 
waste  from  want  of  use.  Shoes  should  be  cut  short 
in  the  quarter,  because  the  pressure  necessary  to 
keep  such  shoes  as  are  now  worn  on  the  feet  will,  in 
this  case,  be  on  the  instep  instead  of  the  toes,  which 
will,  by  this  arrangement,  have  more  room. 

We  shall  conclude  our  observations  on  children's 
dress,  considered  in  a  sanitary  point  of  view,  in  the 
words  of  Mr.  South.  "  If,  then,  you  wish  your  chil- 
dren, girls  especially,  to  have  the  best  chance  of 
health,  and  a  good  constitution,  let  them  wear  flan- 
nel next  their  skin,  and  woollen  stockings  in  win- 
ter; have  your  girls'  chests  covered  to  the  collar 


DRESS.         143 


bones,  and  their  shoulders  in,  not  out  of  their  dresses, 
if  you  would  have  them  straight ;  and  do  not  confine 
their  chests  and  compress  their  digestive  organs  by 
bone  stays,  or  interfere  with  the  free  movement  of 
their  chests  by  tight  belts,  or  any  other  contrivance, 
if  you  desire  their  lungs  should  do  their  duty, 
upon  which  so  mainly  depends  the  preservation  of 
health."  —  Sharpens  London  Magazine. 


NOTE.  —  The  Fig.  58,  referred  to  on  the  top  of  page  59,  is  not 
found  in  the  plate  ;  but  the  same  style  of  dressing  the  hair  may  be 
seen  in  Fig.  57. 


SANTA  BARBARA 


«    WJSM3A1NO  3H1 


o   THE  UNIVERS 
& 


I 

O  SANTA  BARB 


& 

•  AAISSIAINO 


University  of  California 
CTHERN  REG|ONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 
Return  this  material  to  the  library 
from  which  it  was  borrowed. 

***  0  22000 

O   Of  CAUFORNt 


THE  UNIVERSITY    o 


O    THE  UBRARV  C 


»  VINWWIMO  * 


O   THE  UBRARY  C 


O    tHE  II8RARV  Of 


7  r:  \ 


O  SANTA  BARBARA 


O  V8V8HV8  V1NVS  o 

i 


e   OF  CMUKMM 


MlFORNIA    e  •  o  VHV9SV9  V1NVS  o 

I~!S  si  ^i  lo    15 


p    THE  USRARt  Of   O 

I 


«    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 

fcl  •   ilx^  lo 


0    Of  CAIIFORNI. 


O    VINSOJI10  40    <> 


e   THE  LIBRARY  OF    o 
I 


liillilli 

A  A      000146834    7 

\ 


»    WNHOJITV3  JO 


o    THE  UNIVERSITY    o 
O 

I 

•  SANTA  BARBARA  *'• 


0  10  Aawasn  SHI 


O    OF  CALIFORNIA     o 


O    THE  UNIV 
O 


0  jo  Aavaan  am  » 


O    Of  CALIFORNIA    o 


O    THE  UNIVERSITY    O 
O 


to  Aavvan  JHI 


O  SANTA  6AR8ARA  « 


O    THE  UBRARY  OF 


O    OF  CALIFORNIA     o 


•  JO  AmWl  3H1 


VIN  <  o 

s 


O    THE  LIBRARY  OF    e 


O    THE  UNIVE 
O 


O    THE  LIBRARY  OF    o 


o  VSY9i(V9  ViNWS  o 


»    VIN80J11W3  JO 


O    OF  CALIFORNIA    o 


AJUS«3AINn  3H1 


jo  A»vaan  am  o 


o   THE  II8RARY  OF    o 
•  _— 


O    THE  UNIVERSITY    o ' 
_      ^  I        - 


O    OF  CALIFORNIA    o 


